Joey's Out, Will the New Era Be Different?

Well, a noteworthy move by the Detroit Lions as head coach Rod Marinelli said today that Joey Harrington is "no longer with the team". Nobody is quite sure exactly what that comment means, there is no word of whether or not the former 3rd overall pick has been officially released. All that is confirmed is that Harrington will be throwing passes elsewhere next season.

What interests me is what will become of the Lions quarterback position. In the past month, Detroit has hired a highly respected offensive mind in Mike Martz as offensive coordinator, signed 34-year-old weak armed journeyman Jon Kitna to a four year contract, and followed that up by bringing in 26-year-old project Josh McCown to a two year deal.

The common position among those in my circle feels that Jon Kitna is going to be the man to lead this Lions offense. I disagree. Jon Kitna has little to no arm strength, hardly any mobility, questionable accuracy, and is one of the worst decision makers in the league. He has had exactly one good season as a full time starter which was three years ago. Add in the fact that he is eight years older and making less money than McCown and the answer becomes clear. The Lions offense should (for better or worse) be led by McCown. McCown showed signs of grasping Arizona's offense when he played in place of Kurt Warner, is flat out a better overall athlete than Kitna, and has room to grow. This is not to say that McCown is the Lions next franchise quarterback. As I said earlier, he is a project. However, this project is playing under a two year deal to be able to break the bank and establish himself as a solid starter while Jon Kitna could very well be on his last NFL contract.

Will this new regime of Rod Marinelli and Mike Martz work? I don't see why not, but I will definitely wait and see. There is a lot of roster tweaking that has to be done between now and training camp. Rod Marinelli and Mike Martz have both been immensely successful in their previous stops as coordinators with each of them winning a Super Bowl in the shadows of Jon Gruden and Dick Vermeil respectively. Time will tell as it always does. The hiring of Steve Mariucci was supposed to make the Lions playoff contenders. Three seasons later, the team went 16-32 and is starting over again. When you consider Mariucci's immediate firing after Thanksgiving, ponder how Matt Millen is still team president after he put together a team that's 21-59 over the past five seasons, easily the worst mark in the NFL.