Detroit's Joey Harrington hasn't had to endure some of the same pressures that have been placed upon Houston's David Carr.

Harrington started the season watching Mike McMahon from the sidelines while Carr was asked from the outset to lead an expansion team. Detroit running back James Stewart and wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim are more legitimate threats than anyone Carr has on his offense. And while neither plays behind a group of perennial Pro Bowl linemen, Harrington hasn't been subjected to a weekly pounding like Carr.

However, Harrington's ability to inject optimism into a struggling team since taking over as the starter in Week 3 is enough to make him the quarterback for Rookie Report's midseason team.

	Harrington has gone 3-3 as a starter for the Lions.

"Joey does a lot of important things naturally, and he's a leader," Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg said of the No. 3 overall pick. "He's coming along quickly."

The Lions have gone from laughingstock to formidable foe in the past seven weeks. Detroit, 2-16 from the start of 2001 prior to Harrington's first start, came within inches of pulling off an upset over Green Bay in Detroit's home opener. He responded to the loss by engineering an upset of then-undefeated New Orleans in Week 4. Since then, he's led the Lions to two other wins and had them in position to force overtime before suffering tough road losses at Minnesota and Buffalo.

"Winning is about believing you're never out of a game," said Harrington, who has completed 117 of 233 passes for 1,312 yards with six touchdowns and nine interceptions. "I've always believed that. I know I can play in this league. I have proven that to myself."

	ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
	OFFENSE
	Position	Player	Team
	RT	Mike Williams	Bills
	G	Toniu Fonoti	Chargers
	C	Jason Ball	Chargers
	G	LeCharles Bentley	Saints
	LT	Levi Jones	Bengals
	TE	Randy McMichael	Dolphins
	WR	Deion Branch	Pats
	WR	Antonio Bryant	Cowboys
	QB	Joey Harrington	Lions
	RB	Clinton Portis	Broncos
	RB	T.J. Duckett	Falcons
	DEFENSE
	Pos.	Player	Team
	LE	Julius Peppers	Panthers
	DT	Rocky Bernard	Seahawks
	DT	John Henderson	Jaguars
	RE	Carlos Hall	Titans
	LB	Napoleon Harris	Raiders
	LB	Ben Leber	Chargers
	LB	Larry Foote	Steelers
	CB	Phillip Buchanon	Raiders
	S	Ed Reed	Ravens
	S	Coy Wire	Bills
	CB	Derek Ross	Cowboys
	SPECIAL TEAMS
	Pos.	Player	Team
	K	Matt Bryant	Giants
	P	Dave Zastudil	Ravens
	KR	André Davis	Browns
	KR/PR	Antwaan Randle El	Steelers

Joining Harrington on offense are a pair of wide receivers who have had thrilling moments early in their careers.

New England's Deion Branch began his career by making a pair of highlight reel plays in the season opener against Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football. Branch blind-sided Lee Flowers to help pave the way for Donald Hayes' 40-yard touchdown reception. Later in the game, he shook a couple of Steelers out of their pants on his way to the end zone. For the season, the second-round pick from Louisville has 37 catches for 408 yards with two touchdowns.

If not for Emmitt Smith surpassing Walter Payton as the league's all-time leading rusher, Dallas' biggest moment this far might have been Antonio Bryant's game-winning touchdown in Week 5. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they haven't won since. Bryant, a second-rounder from Pitt, has 24 receptions for 391 yards with three touchdowns.

In the backfield are a pair of runners who stepped into very different circumstances.

When Terrell Davis was placed on injured reserve this summer, the Broncos figured that Clinton Portis would eventually become the lead back. In part because of an injury to Olandis Gary, the Miami alumnus has taken over. Portis is eighth in the AFC with 562 yards, has four touchdown runs and is coming of a 111-yard day against New England in Week 8.

The Falcons used their first-round pick on Michigan State's T.J. Duckett even though they had signed Warrick Dunn to a lucrative contract in the offseason. However, Duckett has gotten more of the carries, leading Atlanta with 348 yards and three touchdowns.

One of the biggest surprises of our team is at tight end where first-rounders Jeremy Shockey, Jerramy Stevens and Daniel Graham haven't quite had the impact of Miami's Randy McMichael. The fourth-rounder leads the Dolphins with four touchdown catches and is second with 26 catches for 339 yards.

Since there were a number of receivers having good campaigns, we decided to use two of them as returners for special teams. Cleveland's André Davis, who has five scoring receptions, is fourth in the AFC with 613 kick return yards, including a 95-yard touchdown. Pittsburgh's Antwaan Randle El has 515 combined kick and punt return yards with one touchdown.

The offensive line is comprised of San Diego's Jason Ball (center) and Toniu Fonoti (guard), who have helped paved the way for running back LaDainian Tomlinson; tackles Mike Williams (Buffalo) and Levi Jones (Cincinnati); and New Orleans' LeCharles Bentley filling the other guard spot.

On defense, Carolina's Julius Peppers has proven that he was indeed worthy of being the No. 2 pick. The defensive end leads the league with nine sacks and is joined by Tennessee's Carlos Hall, who had three of his four sacks in the season opener against Philadelphia. On the inside, Seattle's Rocky Bernard (25 tackles, four sacks) and Jacksonville's John Henderson (five sacks, two pass deflections) are playing well as their teams struggle.

Midway through the season, not a lot of linebackers have distinguished themselves though we found three worthy of making our team. San Diego's Ben Leber (four sacks) and Oakland's Napoleon Harris (48 tackles) are regular starters, while Pittsburgh's Larry Foote (18 tackles) provided solid play as a replacement for last year's top defensive rookie, Kendrell Bell.

In contrast, the safety position has arguably produced the most impressive lot of contributors so far. Will Demps (Baltimore), Roy Williams (Dallas), Marques Anderson (Green Bay) and Vernon Fox (San Diego) have all been impressive enough to make the team. But for now, we're going with Buffalo's Coy Wire (55 tackles, one sack) and Baltimore's Ed Reed (38 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and seven pass deflections).

At cornerback, Oakland's Phillip Buchanon (21 tackles, two interceptions, one touchdown) earns a spot despite going down with a wrist injury in Week 7 and is joined by Dallas' Derek Ross (27 tackles, four INTs).

Rounding out the team are Giants placekicker Matt Bryant, who converted his first 11 field goal attempts before missing two on Sunday, and Baltimore's Dave Zastudil (41.4 punt average).

James C. Black is the assistant NFL editor for ESPN.com.