Die Hard Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Carr or Harrington? League's judges are split <br />March 29, 2002 By Jay Glazer<br />SportsLine.com Senior Writer<br /> <br />Dan vs. Dave. <br /><br />Tonya vs. Nancy. <br /><br />Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees. <br /><br />Joey vs. David. <br /><br />OK, maybe the last one isn't quite a heated rivalry like the first three, but NFL sentiment seems to rip straight down the middle. Everyone inside the league seems to have an opinion on which quarterback the Houston Texans should take with the first pick in April's draft. <br /><br /> <br />Joey Harrington has all the qualities teams are looking for in a QB.(AP) <br /><br />The mature family man from Fresno State, David Carr? Or, gritty, tough, swaggering Joey Harrington of Oregon and midtown Manhattan fame? <br /><br />Tough question, although it seems the Texans don't seem to believe so. In fact, Texans coaches have told some free agents who have recently visited the team that Carr will be their pick when Commissioner Tagliabue approaches the podium to announce the expansion franchise's inaugural selection. <br /><br />While the team's general manager, Charley Casserly, insists he is not yet showing his hand, he's not putting forth much of a poker face, either ... or is he? <br /><br />"Carr, in his system, was asked to throw the ball more and relied more upon his pure arm strength," said Casserly when asked to compare the draft's top two quarterback prospects. "It was more of a big-play type of system. With Harrington, you have more movement involved with their offense and (Oregon) threw the ball shorter more often. <br /><br />"I think the off-the-field stuff is very similar -- they both possess very good intangibles, they both study hard and love the game of football. I think any team who gets any one them would love to have them." <br /><br />While Casserly's Texans appear to be set (they even recently met with a member of Carr's agent team to discuss parameters of a deal), the rest of the league is not. In fact, it's completely split. Half for one, half for the other -- a resounding rebound for the Oregon product. <br /><br />"I like them both but if we had to chose one, we'd take Harrington because he played a little bigger in bigger games," said one NFC personnel director. "He doesn't have the arm Carr has, but we think what Harrington did on the field, what he's shown under a stronger microscope, outweighs that. Harrington is probably closer to playing on this level. <br /><br />"I'm surprised that Houston seems to have their mind made up already. That's what some teams do, they get married to one guy early, and then it's too late to pull out. That's what happened with (Ryan) Leaf and San Diego, they just had to go get him at one point. I'm not saying Houston should pull off of him but if it was my pick, right now, I like Harrington. That may change a bunch of times between now and April 20, though." <br /><br />Many teams have the two rated a little too close to call. Of the eight general managers, head coaches and personnel men polled for the story, four went with Carr and four went with his Oregon counterpart. <br /><br />Carr was the clear choice during much of the season and then following a stellar Senior Bowl week. But Harrington went into the massive job interview at last month's NFL Scouting Combine and blew the competition out of the Dome. <br /><br />"I love Harrington's moxie, especially considering how much attention the school put on him before the season," said another NFC scouting director, referring to the giant billboard placed across the street from New York's Madison Square Garden. "They touted him for the Heisman on that billboard in the busiest city in the country, and yet he stepped up and delivered. Do you have any idea how hard that is? Most kids probably would have folded under such pressure and scrutiny, but it never affected him. That has really impressed us." <br /><br />Some teams can't even agree on which player's college system provided better preparation for the next level. While Casserly asserts that Fresno State asked Carr to do much more than Oregon required of Harrington, others say Carr's numbers were padded by short screens and more four- and five-receiver sets. Oddly, others believe Harrington's numbers were padded by receivers' yards gained after the catch. <br /><br />One of the major issues that has allowed for a closing of the gap between the pair involves the difference in the two quarterbacks' deliveries. While some point to Carr's three-quarter delivery as much less favorable than Harrington's over-the-top release, others don't buy into it. <br /><br />"I think people are concerned with Carr's low release, but I don't think it affects his ability to throw the ball accurately," said Giants coach Jim Fassel, a former quarterback who has been revered for his work with the position during his career. "In fact, a guy with a lower release has a little quicker release. I really, really like this kid. I think he can carry the ball better in his drops and has a little more fluidity. I think he'll be a big-time player. <br /><br />Not everyone agrees with Fassel's assessment of the awkward delivery. <br /><br />"I know some people don't have a problem with it, but we do and that's one of the reasons we have Harrington ahead of him," said one head coach who wished to remain anonymous. "It doesn't matter so much to us because we're not in the market for one of those guys, but if we had to chose, Harrington is the guy we have ranked ahead. But both kids are great kids. This is not the case where you have a problem with either one of their heads." <br /><br />That seems to be the only consensus in this QB race. <br /><br />"They are both like coaches on the field, and their learning curve will be better than most QBs coming-out," said one of the scouts. "You can't help but like either one of these kids. Carr has the Peyton Manning mindset although not as rigid. Harrington has many of those same qualities. I think with the two of these guys, they're so close that it really depends upon how your coach responds with each kid during their interviews. It's that close." <br /><br />How close? <br /><br />"I really all depends whether you like vanilla or strawberry," said Fassel. <br /><br />It looks like Carr will be Houston's flavor of choice. 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NavyDave Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Well hopefully that means Harrington drops no lower than 10th in the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 It will be interesting to see whether they both "make it" in the NFL or if one of them is a pretender. This kind of article reminds me of the Manning/Leaf comparisons a few years ago. <br /><br />What a joke THAT turned out to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney B Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Brave:<br /><strong>It will be interesting to see whether they both "make it" in the NFL or if one of them is a pretender. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And of course it's possible that neither one of them will make it. <br /><br />This kind of comparison was also done with Heath Shuler / Rick Mirer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Ryan Leaf seemed to come out of nowhere but these two guys are two-year starters. I think both will be closer to Peyton Manning or at the very least, Tim Couch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennesseeCarl Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 The past couple of years when allegedly 2 'stud' QBs were available we had Manning/Leaf (one genuine article and one lump of fool's gold) and Bledsoe/Mirer (one genuine article and one bust). Just thinking about that makes me a bit fearful of Harrington. <br /><br /> Even in the years where you seem to have a handful of good QBs, you get a few who excel, like McNabb and Culpepper but the busts are obvious and painful (McNown, Akili Smith). <br /><br /> I don't think Harrington's a Ryan Leaf (could anyone be that offensive?), but he sure could be a Mirer.<br /><br /> Why can't the Redskins get lucky with the QB position? Every year there's a controversy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickalino Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by The Chief:<br /><strong> This kind of comparison was also done with Heath Shuler / Rick Mirer.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Chief, you've got your names interchanged. It was actually Drew Bledsoe/Rick Mirer. And Heath's counterpart was Trent Dilfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeSkin Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Here are Carr's and Harrington's 2001 stats.<br /><br />David Carr Sr. 6'3" 220 4.7/40 Fresno St. <br />2001 Statistics: 476ATT 308CMP 64.7% 4,299YDs 42TDs 7INTs<br /><br />Joey Harrington Sr. 6'4" 215 4.8/40 Oregon <br />2001 Statistics: 322ATT 186CMP 57.8% 2,414YDs 23TDs 5INTs <br /><br />As you can see, Carr's stats are a hell of a lot better than Harrington's. The question is, do you go for the huge talent with the huge numbers, or the QB with the above-average but not spectacular numbers, but with the off the charts intangibles?<br /><br />I never liked David Carr in the games I saw him play. At the beginning of last season, all the analysts were crowing about how Fresno State deserved a shot at the Rose Bowl, and then boom, they lose to Hawaii and Boise State. They fell off the charts after that.<br /><br />In my humble opinion, Carr could easily turn into a Jeff George whereas Harrington could be a Trent Dilfer or a Rich Gannon type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted March 31, 2002 Author Share Posted March 31, 2002 I've always been skeptical of players who seemingly come out of nowhere with a good season in their draft year. Perhaps we'd be better served OrangeSkin if you were to post the career stats of both QBs <img border="0" title="" alt="[smile]" src="smile.gif" /> That would be a better gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 David Carr was also very good in 2000. The loss in the bowl game to Air Fore was due more to Fresno State's sorry defense as were the losses to Hawaii and Boise St. this year. Here are his stats.<br /><br />Totals Passing Rushing <br />SEASON RECORD CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA TD INT RAT ATT YDS AVG TD <br />2000 11-2 194 316 2338 61.4 7.4 18 11 135.4 65 80 1.2 4 <br />2001 - 308 476 4299 64.7 9.0 42 7 166.7 88 97 1.1 5 <br /><br />Meanwhile, Harrington was solid his two years as well<br /><br />Totals Passing Rushing <br />SEASON RECORD CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA TD INT RAT ATT YDS AVG TD <br />1999 - 24 38 410 63.2 10.8 4 1 183.3 9 38 4.2 0 <br />2000 10-1 195 375 2694 52.0 7.2 20 13 123.0 61 125 2.0 6 <br />2001 - 186 322 2414 57.8 7.5 23 5 141.2 55 56 1.0 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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