Joey Harrington: The Worst QB in NFL History

[vince]

So the speculation has been about exhausted regarding the Favre situation. Until we hear actual reaction from Thompson, McCarthy, and/or Favre, here's an interesting and comical diversion.

Worst QB in Packer history? 'Indian' Jack Jacobs

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=545

All time NFL QBs: The Worst Edition

Posted by Chase Stuart on Monday, June 23, 2008

Two years ago I wrote up a post about the worst quarterbacks of all time. Today I’ll be updating that post, while tomorrow I’ll be writing about the best quarterbacks of all time. To save myself some headaches, I’ve separated out the methodology for ranking the QBs into a separate post. That’s pretty much required reading if you want to understand how the rankings were derived.

For starters, it always bugs me how much time NFL fans spend discussing the best quarterbacks ever, and how little time we spend discussing the worst QBs ever. Let’s start with the worst single season of all time.

I doubt anyone alive today remembers the name Bud Schwenk. That’s what happens when you throw 295 passes, and complete 126 of them to your team and 27 of them to the opponents. Yes, Bud Schwenk averaged an impressive 0.69 adjusted yards per pass attempt, while the league average outside of Scwhenk was 4.25 adjusted yards per pass (After 1969, every QB will be ranked by his net adjusted yards per attempt, but we don’t have reliable individual sack data from before then). Schwenk singlehandedly dropped the league average to 3.23 AY/A, which might have misled readers into seeing how bad he really was.

Six years later, Jack Jacobs was nearly as bad, averaging negative yards per pass attempt but on over 100 fewer passes. Ineptitude kept Jacobs from passing (sliding behind?) Schenk.

And the third worst QB season of all time? You need to fast forward 51 years, to 1999. Check out this stat line:

Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD Int Sk SkYd ANY/A LgAvg ANY/A
201 381 52.8 2111 9 24 27 152 2.38 4.87

Plummer, in 1999, “contributed” 1,017 fewer yards to the Cardinals than the league average QB would have brought to the table. As far as modern seasons go, Plummer’s ‘99 stands as the worst. Here’s a list of the 25 worst seasons by any QB:

year att pyd ptd icp sk-syd any/a RY4.0 Rating
Bud Schwenk 1942 CRD 295 1360 6 27 - 0.69 0 -1243
Jack Jacobs 1948 GNB 184 848 5 21 - -0.26 0 -1158
Jake Plummer 1999 ARI 381 2111 9 24 27-152 2.38 0 -1017
Archie Manning 1975 NOR 338 1683 7 20 49-390 1.20 64 - 972
David Carr 2002 HOU 444 2592 9 15 76-411 3.07 76 - 942
Davey O'Brien 1940 PHI 277 1290 5 17 - 2.08 0 - 917
Bobby Hoying 1998 PHI 224 961 0 9 35-185 1.43 0 - 916
Milt Plum 1965 DET 308 1710 12 19 - 3.17 0 - 891
Kerry Collins 1997 CAR 381 2124 11 21 27-200 2.67 0 - 888
Tobin Rote 1959 DET 162 861 5 19 - 0.35 36 - 885
Joe Kapp 1970 BOS 219 1104 3 17 27-231 0.56 0 - 857
Stan Heath 1949 GNB 106 355 1 14 - -2.50 0 - 838
Ryan Leaf 1998 SDG 245 1289 2 15 22-140 1.85 0 - 831
Dick Wood 1966 MIA 230 993 4 14 - 1.75 0 - 818
Vinny Testaverde1988 TAM 466 3240 13 35 33-292 3.01 36 - 815
Kyle Orton 2005 CHI 368 1869 9 13 30-190 2.97 0 - 815
Dan Pastorini 1981 RAM 152 719 2 14 14-149 -0.24 0 - 813
Dan Darragh 1968 BUF 215 917 3 14 - 1.47 0 - 813
A.J. Feeley 2004 MIA 356 1893 11 15 23-136 3.15 0 - 806
Frank Tripucka 1952 DTX 174 769 3 17 - 0.20 22 - 802
Roy Zimmerman 1943 PHI 124 846 9 17 - 1.38 0 - 798
Dave M. Brown 1996 NYG 398 2412 12 20 49-276 3.03 0 - 797
Jon Kitna 2001 CIN 581 3216 12 22 25-185 3.57 0 - 791
Zeke Bratkowski 1960 CHI 175 1051 6 21 - 0.95 0 - 787
Jack Trudeau 1986 IND 417 2225 8 18 29-213 2.87 0 - 785
Paul Christman 1945 CRD 219 1147 5 12 - 3.00 0 - 784
Jeff Komlo 1979 DET 368 2238 11 23 40-361 2.33 7 - 781
Alex Smith 2005 SFO 165 875 1 11 29-185 1.06 0 - 769
Andrew Walter 2006 OAK 276 1677 3 13 46-256 2.69 0 - 764

How about the worst QB in the league for every season since the merger?

Quarterback Year Team ANY/A Rating
Trent Dilfer 2007 SFO 2.09 - 754
Andrew Walter 2006 OAK 2.69 - 764
Kyle Orton 2005 CHI 2.97 - 815
A.J. Feeley 2004 MIA 3.15 - 806
Joey Harrington 2003 DET 3.56 - 738
David Carr 2002 HOU 3.07 - 942
Jon Kitna 2001 CIN 3.57 - 791
Ryan Leaf 2000 SDG 2.91 - 697
Jake Plummer 1999 ARI 2.38 -1017
Bobby Hoying 1998 PHI 1.43 - 916
Kerry Collins 1997 CAR 2.67 - 888
Dave M. Brown 1996 NYG 3.03 - 797
Bubby Brister 1995 NYJ 1.53 - 660
Billy Joe Tolliver 1994 HOU 3.24 - 473
Mark Rypien 1993 WAS 3.04 - 598
Stan Gelbaugh 1992 SEA 2.10 - 700
Jeff George 1991 IND 3.68 - 650
Troy Aikman 1990 DAL 3.63 - 548
Troy Aikman 1989 DAL 2.80 - 508
Vinny Testaverde 1988 TAM 3.01 - 815
Mark Malone 1987 PIT 2.68 - 674
Jack Trudeau 1986 IND 2.87 - 785
Joe Theismann 1985 WAS 2.43 - 677
Joe Ferguson 1984 BUF 2.61 - 750
Joe Ferguson 1983 BUF 3.48 - 597
Joe Ferguson 1982 BUF 3.06 - 490
Dan Pastorini 1981 RAM -0.24 - 813
Phil Simms 1980 NYG 3.16 - 530
Jeff Komlo 1979 DET 2.33 - 781
Steve DeBerg 1978 SFO 1.58 - 681
Randy Hedberg 1977 TAM -3.21 - 723
Gary Marangi 1976 BUF 0.72 - 721
Archie Manning 1975 NOR 1.20 - 972
Bob Lee 1974 ATL -0.08 - 762
Dan Pastorini 1973 HOU 1.42 - 732
Jim Plunkett 1972 NWE 1.94 - 732
Dennis Shaw 1971 BUF 1.47 - 704
Joe Kapp 1970 BOS 0.56 - 857

Okay, I know what you’re all waiting for. Let’s get to the career list.

Quarterback Att Rate
Joey Harrington 2538 -2129
Rick Mirer 2043 -2081
David Carr 2206 -1804
Ryan Leaf 655 -1607
Frank Tripucka 1745 -1519
Mike Taliaferro 966 -1501
Gary Huff 788 -1433
Kim McQuilken 272 -1392
Alex Smith 800 -1353
Kent Nix 652 -1335
Davey O'Brien 478 -1320
Mike Phipps 1799 -1299
Kyle Boller 1311 -1292
Danny Kanell 956 -1286
Rick Norton 382 -1277
Trent Dilfer 3172 -1275
Tim Couch 1714 -1208
Craig Whelihan 557 -1151
John McCormick 555 -1146
Dan Darragh 296 -1146
Randy Wright 1119 -1117
Dave M. Brown 1634 -1100
King Hill 881 -1081
Joe Kapp 918 -1078
Bud Schwenk 662 -1057
Dennis Shaw 924 -1051
George Izo 317 -1037
Josh McCown 1052 -1024
Kelly Stouffer 437 -1013
Jack Jacobs 552 -1005
Scott Brunner 1046 - 995
Dick Wood 1194 - 993
Dan Pastorini 3055 - 993
Heath Shuler 593 - 984
Jack Thompson 845 - 969
Randy Johnson 1286 - 951
Akili Smith 461 - 939
Jeff Komlo 437 - 916
Stan Gelbaugh 391 - 913
David Klingler 718 - 898

There you have it — no QB has performed so far below the league average for so long as Joey Harrington. To be clear, Joey Harrington probably isn’t the worst quarterback of all time in an absolute sense. But in terms of being so far below average, but far enough above miserable to earn more playing time, Joey Harrington hurt his team more than any other QB in NFL history. If Harrington had been worse, he would have played less, and he wouldn’t have set back the teams he played on. To put it another way, if you had the choice of getting Joey Harrington for 2,538 attempts, or Roger Goodell for 9 attempts you would certainly choose Goodell. At least after he’s gone, your team has a chance.

You might notice that the four worst QBs of all time were all guys from the last fifteen years. Why? Surely it isn’t a coincidence that each QB was a top three pick in the draft. I doubt there’s much comfort to Texans fans in the words “At least you made the right decision in the Harrington/Carr sweepstakes.” But top picks now, more than ever, are given multiple chances to succeed. And when they’re bad, that means many, many chances to fail.

In 1962, the Rams took future NFL MVP QB Roman Gabriel with the second pick in the draft. In 1963, the Rams took QB Terry Baker with the first pick in the draft. He threw only 19 passes as a rookie, but in the ‘64 draft, the Rams took Bill Munson with their first pick, seventh overall. That sort of stuff just doesn’t happen anymore, unless Matt Millen’s running your team. So while I’m always on the lookout for era-bias in my rankings, I think we’ve got a legitimate, non-era reason for why the worst QBs of all time are from this era.

Ironically enough, Harrington actually fares much better on the previous list than on the all time list if you discard all sacks data. For all of Harrington’s faults, he’s done a terrific job at avoiding sacks. Here are the worst 15 QBs of all time when ignoring sack data:

Joey Harrington 2538 -2596
Rick Mirer 2043 -1761
Frank Tripucka 1745 -1519
Ryan Leaf 655 -1471
Mike Taliaferro 966 -1438
Kent Nix 652 -1323
Davey O'Brien 478 -1320
Mark Malone 1648 -1300
Danny Kanell 956 -1289
Kim McQuilken 272 -1271
Scott Brunner 1046 -1237
Randy Wright 1119 -1216
Gary Huff 788 -1200
Craig Whelihan 557 -1193
Rick Norton 382 -1179

What if we go go back to including sack data, but both eliminate any rushing bonus and drop the baseline to three-fourths of league average? This, I think, probably gets as what most people think of when they think of the worst passers ever. These are the guys that were just really, really bad. Harrington is actually positive for his career when comparing to three-quarters of league average, so he’s nowhere to be seen on this list. If you think Harrington is more like the 200th best QB of all time and not the absolute worst, you might like this list better to crown our worst quarterback of all time:

Kim McQuilken 272 -989
Rick Norton 382 -765
Bud Schwenk 662 -741
Stan Heath 106 -704
Dan Darragh 296 -688
George Izo 317 -662
Kent Nix 652 -648
Davey O'Brien 478 -645
John McCarthy 67 -642
Ryan Leaf 655 -588
John McCormick 555 -540
Randy Hedberg 90 -535
Boley Dancewicz 238 -514
George Herring 233 -487
Gary Marangi 283 -465
Bill Mackrides 315 -459
Mike Taliaferro 966 -452
Craig Whelihan 557 -409
Scott Bull 193 -405
Tommy Wade 69 -401
Bob Davis 324 -399
Gary Huff 788 -388
Jack Jacobs 552 -384
King Hill 881 -383
Will Furrer 124 -381

Any list where Kim McQuilken ranks as the worst QB of all time sounds okay to me. From 1974 to 1976, McQuilken threw 3 TDs against 28 interceptions, and lost over 300 yards in sacks against just 261 attempts. McQuilken, for the three year span, averaged -1.63 net adjusted yards per pass attempt. Those Falcons teams would have been better off if he ran a QB sneak each play.

Finally, let’s close with a list of the worst QBs of all time for each team. Only the stats a QB accumulated for his team are included on here. One more note — while I used the 100/95/90 sliding scale to rank the QBs on all the normal career lists, I weighted each season equally here. And, believe it or not, Joey Harrington isn’t even the worst QB in Lions’ history.

Milt Plum det -2167
Jake Plummer crd -2143
Vinny Testaverde tam -1967
David Carr htx -1866
Randy Johnson atl -1801
Rick Mirer sea -1705
Mike Phipps cle -1687
Rick Norton mia -1544
Kyle Boller rav -1530
Ryan Leaf sdg -1528
Jack Jacobs gnb -1453
Alex Smith sfo -1450
Jack Concannon chi -1438
Frank Tripucka den -1409
Davey O'Brien phi -1366
Dave M. Brown nyg -1357
Jeff George clt -1336
Dennis Shaw buf -1314
Dan Pastorini oti -1285
Mike Taliaferro nwe -1200
Dave Wilson nor -1160
Mark Malone pit -1125
Kerry Collins car -1111
Ralph Guglielmi was -1079
Akili Smith cin -1067
Todd Blackledge kan - 886
Marc Wilson rai - 817
Dan Pastorini ram - 813
Bubby Brister nyj - 660
Quincy Carter dal - 588
Spergon Wynn min - 402
Steve Beuerlein jax - 218

[MJZiggy]

lol...

[oregonpackfan]

This quote:

Joey Harrington hurt his team more than any other QB in NFL history.

is inaccurate when you consider the teams he has had to lead--the Lions, Dolphins, and the Falcons. The teams were already bad. It is not as if Harrington pulled them down with inept play.

His miserable start with the Lions reinforces the point that if a rookie quarterback is expected to start for a poor team, his NFL career is virtually doomed. There are many other rookie QB's that had to start for lousy teams and they failed miserably such as: Tim Couch, Akili Smith, and David Carr.

If Harrington had the luxury of sitting on the bench for a competitive team for 2-3 years and then came into the starting position, I think he could have been an "adequate" starting QB. He certainly would never make the "great" or "good" classification, but I think he could be an adequate QB behind a strong team.

[Scott Campbell]

I think Tank just locked himself inside Ted's closet.

[Brainerd]

I'm not a Joey fan. Nor one of Tank's. Statistics do lie very often especially when a career is still ongoing. Joey's still playing right?

Anyway, what were Steve Young's numbers prior to the 49ers?

[Badgerinmaine]

Anyway, what were Steve Young's numbers prior to the 49ers?

Terrible. :P

[Patler]

Anyway, what were Steve Young's numbers prior to the 49ers?

Terrible. :P

Not good, but he wasn't as horrible as some now make it sound when his story is embellished.

First of all, he was in Tampa Bay only 2 seasons, and played just 19 games during that time. He really did not have much of an opportunity. His stats in TB:

Passing - 267/501 for 3,217 yards, 11 TDs and 21 interceptions.
Rushing - 114 carries for 658 yards and 6 TDs

[Fritz]

I don't know who was the worst or anything, but I do know that Joe Kapp threw the ugliest ball I've ever seen in the NFL. Nobody in my recollection looked worse doing his job than Joe Kapp. Still, the dude was in a Superbowl.

[Guiness]

Re: Joey Harrington: The Worst QB in NFL History

Worst QB in Packer history? 'Indian' Jack Jacobs

Interesting that - he was quite a hero in the CFL after his GB days, and considered to be one of the all-time Blue Bomber greats. The Wiki link tells me he was the first pro QB to pass for 3000yds in a season.

[Badgerinmaine]

Anyway, what were Steve Young's numbers prior to the 49ers?

Terrible. :P

Not good, but he wasn't as horrible as some now make it sound when his story is embellished.

First of all, he was in Tampa Bay only 2 seasons, and played just 19 games during that time. He really did not have much of an opportunity. His stats in TB:

Passing - 267/501 for 3,217 yards, 11 TDs and 21 interceptions.
Rushing - 114 carries for 658 yards and 6 TDs

You're leaving out his two years in the USFL playing for the LA Express. They paid him a ton of money to be their starting QB. In a sub-NFL league, his second season was particularly bad: QB rating of 63.1, completing only 54.8% of his passes with 6 TDs and 13 interceptions (he appears to have gotten around 60% of the attempts for the Express at QB, but I don't know if he was hurt or benched). Being around double the INTs to TD passes isn't good.

[Patler]

You're leaving out his two years in the USFL playing for the LA Express.

I don't generally consider CFL stats either when discussing NFL players, nor NFL-E or arena football league stats.