RenoFinFan
Pro Bowler
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There have been many threads over the course of the season bashing Joey Harrington for his play as a Miami Dolphin. My recollection is it started way back in TC when some fans suggested they would rather have Harrington be the starting Dolphin QB. As I recall, fans calling for Harrington were called ignorant, clueless and not "true" Dolphin fans. At the time, I was taking a wait-and-see approach as my loyalty was to whomever I thought could do the best job leading the Dolphins to victory. Most of the Harrington bashing I perceive has come from what I would consider to be die-hard Culpepper fans and later die-hard Chamber fans have joined in. Of course, many of those fans are one and the same. Has the criticism of Harrington been just? Or does this have more to do with fear that Culpepper would not be given another chance to be the Dolphins starting QB again? Or is it just a way to take the focus off who our real problem is...a WR named Chambers? Whichever the case this post argues that if Miami were to get a legitimate #1 WR then Harrington might be a very capable starting QB for the Dolphins.
There have also been many threads over the course of the season debating the value of Chris Chambers. On one side, Chamber fans appear to think of him as an elite WR and claim his only problem has been he doesn’t have an elite QB to throw him the ball in order to show his true greatness. On the other side, Chambers non-supporters appear to think he is overrated, underachieving, and overpaid and claim that Chambers real problem is not so much the QB but him. This is not to say we have had great QBs since #13 retired.
This past season Chambers was particularly disappointing and could possibly of had the worst season a #1 WR has ever had in the history of the NFL. Statistically speaking, I have never seen a WR have as few catches, yards, and TD when targeted as much as Chambers was this year. If anyone knows of one, please bring it too my attention and I will retract that statement. Chamber fans would like for everyone to just ignore the whole “targeting” category because it really makes Chambers look bad when considering the number of times our QBs try to get him the ball in order for him to put up the numbers he does.
In the debate of Chambers value, statistics have been shown that confirm all three of our QBs (Culpepper, Harrington, Lemon) struggled when throwing to Chambers this year, both Booker and Welker far exceeded his play this year regardless of whether being thrown to behind the line of scrimmage-short-middle-long, and Chambers was so far below other #1 WRs performances it would be hard to call Chambers a true #1 WR despite the numerous attempts for our QBs throwing to him as if he is.
For the Chamber fans the argument seems to have come down to blaming his season on Harrington. The fact that Culpepper and Lemon played 1/3 of the season and both struggled when throwing to Chambers usually gets ignored or that is when claims the OL and play-calling were horrible, yet dramatically improved when Harrington played. It appears Chambers fans contend there is no QB worse than Harrington and so you can’t compare another WR to Chambers because they don’t have Harrington throwing them the ball. You also can’t compare Chambers to our other WRs because they don’t face the same types of coverage’s a #1 WR does or run the same routes…legitimate reasons or excuses?
Both Harrington and Chambers stats this year:
Joey Harrington for season:
223 comp 388 att 57.4% comp 2236 yds 12 TD 15 INT 68.2 QB rating
Joey Harrington when throwing to Chambers:
40 comp 101 att 39.6% comp 457 yds (11.43 ypc) 2 TD 8 INT 27.53 QB rating
Joey Harrington when throwing to everyone not named Chambers:
183 comp 287 att 63.76% comp 1779 yds 10 TD 7 INT 82.49 QB rating
Chris Chambers for season:
59 catches 154 attempts (39.6%) 677 yards (11.47 ypc) 4 TD 9 INT (QBs had a 36.63 QB rating)
If only there was some way to compare Chambers value to another #1 WR who had the same QB throwing him the ball. Fortunately, (for this post anyway) there is! That WR would be Detroit’s Roy Williams. The prior two years before Harrington came to Miami Williams had established himself as Detroit’s #1 WR and Harrington’s main target. Before we look at the Harrington-to-Williams numbers lets look at the intangibles that also might have somehow affected those numbers.
99 catches 212 attempts 1504 yards 16 TD (includes all QBs throwing to him)
Adjusted stats for actual Harrington passing to Roy Williams in 2004 and 2005:
88 catches 191 attempts (46.1%) 1362 yards (15.48 ypc) 14 TD 9 INT 74.99 QB rating
Wow…this does not bode well for Chamber fans that think the problem is Harrington. When compared next to each other the discrepancy is startling.
Harrington-to-Chambers…
40 catches 101 attempts (39.6%) 457 yds (11.43 ypc) 2 TD 8 INT 27.53 QB rating
Harrington-to-R. Williams…
88 catches 191 attempts (46.1%) 1362 yards (15.48 ypc) 14 TD 9 INT 74.99 QB rating
In order for Chambers to match Williams production he would have to put up the following numbers:
48 catches 90 attempts (53.3%) 905 yards (18.85 ypc) 12 TD 1 INT 123.38 QB rating
As much as Harrington has been bashed on finheaven (some deserved perhaps) when I replaced Chambers numbers with Williams average production based on 101 attempts from when Harrington threw to Williams and then projected what those numbers would be for a 16 game season Harrington’s statistics indicate with a true #1 WR he may not be that bad of a QB.
Harrington’s projected numbers with Williams instead of Chambers and then projected to a full 16 game season…
339 comp 564 attempts (60.1%) 3635 yards (10.72 ypc) 25 TD 17 INT 81.24 QB rating.
Harrington would have been 7th in yards and 4th in TD passes (1 ahead of Brady and 1 behind Brees) this past season.
To further illustrate the negative effect Chambers had on Harrington. Of the 7 interceptions thrown to every player not named Chambers they all occurred in the first 4 games when Harrington and the receivers were getting their timing down…2 were deflected, 1 was a miscommunication with Welker, 1 was a great play by a DL (Alex Brown) and 3 were IMO poor decisions / throws. However, once Harrington got his timing down with the WRs (except Chambers or course) he was excellent. Harrington’s statistics in the final 7 games of the season...
Harrington final 7 games played throwing to anyone not named Chambers:
93 comp 145 attempts 848 yards 6 TD 0 INT (93.69 QB rating)
However...
Harrington’s final 7 games played throwing to Chambers:
23 comp 63 attempts 281 yards 0 TD 6 INT (11.05 QB rating)
Chambers made it clear to the press how pleased he was to have Culpepper throw him the football and how displeased he was to have Harrington be throwing him the football. Preferences are fine, but what I find disturbing about Chambers was how significantly he let his personal preference for which QB throws to him be displayed on the field of play.
I suspect that most of the attention this offseason at finheaven will be spent on speculating who our starting QB should be. I also suspect Chambers fans will still contend the problem was Harrington and a healthy Culpepper will cure all (it seems to me if a person is a Chamber fan they are almost always a Culpepper fan too. Why is that? My guess is most are fans who grew up watching ESPN highlights and playing Madden football that are in love with this QB/WR combo, but I could be wrong). I further suspect this thread and myself will be severely condemned and I will be labeled as being ignorant, clueless and not a "true" Dolphin fan by die-hard Culpepper/Chamber fans who were able to see as clearly as I was the Dolphins offense took a positive step forward when Harrington replaced Culpepper at QB despite Chambers lack of effort but have chosen denial intead.
My personal view is Miami would be just fine by cutting Culpepper and putting his $5.5 million salary this year toward improving the WR and OL as our offense would be much better served. Let Harrington and Lemon battle it out in TC and draft a QB to groom. I believe the #1 WR position is our “TOP PRIORITY” and until that gets a significant upgrade our passing game is in trouble. So I am hoping that God is a Dolphin fan and Calvin Johnson falls to #9 in the draft. If not, I can’t think of a better pick than Dwayne Jarrett if he is still on the board. As far as keeping Chambers as our #1 WR, I am hoping Cameron sees the light and gets rid of him regardless of who our starting QB is. IMO It is time this ugliness gets addressed!
There have also been many threads over the course of the season debating the value of Chris Chambers. On one side, Chamber fans appear to think of him as an elite WR and claim his only problem has been he doesn’t have an elite QB to throw him the ball in order to show his true greatness. On the other side, Chambers non-supporters appear to think he is overrated, underachieving, and overpaid and claim that Chambers real problem is not so much the QB but him. This is not to say we have had great QBs since #13 retired.
This past season Chambers was particularly disappointing and could possibly of had the worst season a #1 WR has ever had in the history of the NFL. Statistically speaking, I have never seen a WR have as few catches, yards, and TD when targeted as much as Chambers was this year. If anyone knows of one, please bring it too my attention and I will retract that statement. Chamber fans would like for everyone to just ignore the whole “targeting” category because it really makes Chambers look bad when considering the number of times our QBs try to get him the ball in order for him to put up the numbers he does.
In the debate of Chambers value, statistics have been shown that confirm all three of our QBs (Culpepper, Harrington, Lemon) struggled when throwing to Chambers this year, both Booker and Welker far exceeded his play this year regardless of whether being thrown to behind the line of scrimmage-short-middle-long, and Chambers was so far below other #1 WRs performances it would be hard to call Chambers a true #1 WR despite the numerous attempts for our QBs throwing to him as if he is.
For the Chamber fans the argument seems to have come down to blaming his season on Harrington. The fact that Culpepper and Lemon played 1/3 of the season and both struggled when throwing to Chambers usually gets ignored or that is when claims the OL and play-calling were horrible, yet dramatically improved when Harrington played. It appears Chambers fans contend there is no QB worse than Harrington and so you can’t compare another WR to Chambers because they don’t have Harrington throwing them the ball. You also can’t compare Chambers to our other WRs because they don’t face the same types of coverage’s a #1 WR does or run the same routes…legitimate reasons or excuses?
Both Harrington and Chambers stats this year:
Joey Harrington for season:
223 comp 388 att 57.4% comp 2236 yds 12 TD 15 INT 68.2 QB rating
Joey Harrington when throwing to Chambers:
40 comp 101 att 39.6% comp 457 yds (11.43 ypc) 2 TD 8 INT 27.53 QB rating
Joey Harrington when throwing to everyone not named Chambers:
183 comp 287 att 63.76% comp 1779 yds 10 TD 7 INT 82.49 QB rating
Chris Chambers for season:
59 catches 154 attempts (39.6%) 677 yards (11.47 ypc) 4 TD 9 INT (QBs had a 36.63 QB rating)
If only there was some way to compare Chambers value to another #1 WR who had the same QB throwing him the ball. Fortunately, (for this post anyway) there is! That WR would be Detroit’s Roy Williams. The prior two years before Harrington came to Miami Williams had established himself as Detroit’s #1 WR and Harrington’s main target. Before we look at the Harrington-to-Williams numbers lets look at the intangibles that also might have somehow affected those numbers.
- OL…Despite the criticism for how poor Miami’s OL was this year it compares favorably to the Detroit OL in 2004 and 2005. Harrington was sacked 60 times on 819 pass attempts in Detroit during 2004-05 for an average of once every 13.15 pass attempts. However, Harrington was sacked 15 times on 388 pass attempts this year for an average of once every 25.86 pass attempts…advantage Miami OL.
- RB…Detroit’s main man was Kevin Jones. KJ had 427 rushes 1797 yards 10 TDs for 4.2 ypc. Of course, Miami’s main man is Ronnie Brown. RB had 241 rushes 1008 yards 5 TD for 4.2 ypc…no clear advantage.
- Experience…Roy Williams was a rookie in 2004 and so the statistics are for his 1st two years in the league. Chris Chambers was in his 6th year and at 29 years of age is when WRs are considered to be in their prime…advantage Chambers.
- Coaching / Management…cough, cough, cough…advantage Miami.
- Complimentary WR…Booker / Welker vs. Charles Hakim / Streets (2004) and then Vines / Mike Williams / Rogers (2005)…advantage Miami.
- TE…McMichael vs. Alexander (2004) and then Pollard (2005)…slight advantage Miami.
- Defense…no contest, Miami.
99 catches 212 attempts 1504 yards 16 TD (includes all QBs throwing to him)
Adjusted stats for actual Harrington passing to Roy Williams in 2004 and 2005:
88 catches 191 attempts (46.1%) 1362 yards (15.48 ypc) 14 TD 9 INT 74.99 QB rating
Wow…this does not bode well for Chamber fans that think the problem is Harrington. When compared next to each other the discrepancy is startling.
Harrington-to-Chambers…
40 catches 101 attempts (39.6%) 457 yds (11.43 ypc) 2 TD 8 INT 27.53 QB rating
Harrington-to-R. Williams…
88 catches 191 attempts (46.1%) 1362 yards (15.48 ypc) 14 TD 9 INT 74.99 QB rating
In order for Chambers to match Williams production he would have to put up the following numbers:
48 catches 90 attempts (53.3%) 905 yards (18.85 ypc) 12 TD 1 INT 123.38 QB rating
As much as Harrington has been bashed on finheaven (some deserved perhaps) when I replaced Chambers numbers with Williams average production based on 101 attempts from when Harrington threw to Williams and then projected what those numbers would be for a 16 game season Harrington’s statistics indicate with a true #1 WR he may not be that bad of a QB.
Harrington’s projected numbers with Williams instead of Chambers and then projected to a full 16 game season…
339 comp 564 attempts (60.1%) 3635 yards (10.72 ypc) 25 TD 17 INT 81.24 QB rating.
Harrington would have been 7th in yards and 4th in TD passes (1 ahead of Brady and 1 behind Brees) this past season.
To further illustrate the negative effect Chambers had on Harrington. Of the 7 interceptions thrown to every player not named Chambers they all occurred in the first 4 games when Harrington and the receivers were getting their timing down…2 were deflected, 1 was a miscommunication with Welker, 1 was a great play by a DL (Alex Brown) and 3 were IMO poor decisions / throws. However, once Harrington got his timing down with the WRs (except Chambers or course) he was excellent. Harrington’s statistics in the final 7 games of the season...
Harrington final 7 games played throwing to anyone not named Chambers:
93 comp 145 attempts 848 yards 6 TD 0 INT (93.69 QB rating)
However...
Harrington’s final 7 games played throwing to Chambers:
23 comp 63 attempts 281 yards 0 TD 6 INT (11.05 QB rating)
Chambers made it clear to the press how pleased he was to have Culpepper throw him the football and how displeased he was to have Harrington be throwing him the football. Preferences are fine, but what I find disturbing about Chambers was how significantly he let his personal preference for which QB throws to him be displayed on the field of play.
I suspect that most of the attention this offseason at finheaven will be spent on speculating who our starting QB should be. I also suspect Chambers fans will still contend the problem was Harrington and a healthy Culpepper will cure all (it seems to me if a person is a Chamber fan they are almost always a Culpepper fan too. Why is that? My guess is most are fans who grew up watching ESPN highlights and playing Madden football that are in love with this QB/WR combo, but I could be wrong). I further suspect this thread and myself will be severely condemned and I will be labeled as being ignorant, clueless and not a "true" Dolphin fan by die-hard Culpepper/Chamber fans who were able to see as clearly as I was the Dolphins offense took a positive step forward when Harrington replaced Culpepper at QB despite Chambers lack of effort but have chosen denial intead.
My personal view is Miami would be just fine by cutting Culpepper and putting his $5.5 million salary this year toward improving the WR and OL as our offense would be much better served. Let Harrington and Lemon battle it out in TC and draft a QB to groom. I believe the #1 WR position is our “TOP PRIORITY” and until that gets a significant upgrade our passing game is in trouble. So I am hoping that God is a Dolphin fan and Calvin Johnson falls to #9 in the draft. If not, I can’t think of a better pick than Dwayne Jarrett if he is still on the board. As far as keeping Chambers as our #1 WR, I am hoping Cameron sees the light and gets rid of him regardless of who our starting QB is. IMO It is time this ugliness gets addressed!
