The Drubbing

For those that may have missed it, former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League on Friday. Yes, that’s the same Graham Harrell that threw for over 5,000 yards in a season twice and holds the NCAA Divison I record for career touchdowns with 134 and was undrafted in last years NFL draft. He has two of the top ten season passing yardage marks including the #4 spot, right behind the late Steve McNair. This guy not getting a good look from an NFL team is downright criminal if you ask me.

You can say what you want about Harrell being a system quarterback, and his numbers being a product of their style of offense. That’s fine, the same has been said about former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and many other QBs. But you can’t tell me that there are over 96 more talented QBs in the NFL right now. People are talking about giving Michael Vick another shot at QB whenever Roger Goodell releases him, but Graham Harrell can’t get a sniff at a roster spot? The man threw 626 passes in 2008 with only 9 interceptions. That kind of accuracy has nothing to do with a “system”. Knock his arm strength all you want, but last I checked, Chad “Wet Noodle Arm” Pennington is still a starter in the NFL. Don’t forget that Matt Stafford, Pat White and Mark Sanchez were all knocked for their lack of arm strength.

Harrell has hops too

But I think this is emblematic of a larger problem in the NFL, among other industries. Just because you’ve been doing something for a while doesn’t mean you don’t suck at it. Let me throw out a few names for you. D.J. Shockeley, John Beck, Brett Basanez, Jordan Palmer, Brett Ratliff, Drew Stanton, Brian Brohm, Chad Henne, John David Booty, Mark Brunell, Joey Harrington, David Carr, A.J. Feeley, Seneca Wallace, Charlie Whitehurst, Brock Berlin and Todd Collins. Okay, more than a few names. But here’s what they have in common. They have all been in the NFL, and have all amounted to nothing. Many of them including Harrington, Carr, Feeley and Wallace have proven themselves to be incapable backups. There are others like Brunell that had good years, but those are nearly a decade in the past.

I’d like to see more NFL teams take this approach. Get your star guy like a Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees or even a Tony Romo. Then put an experienced, wily old veteran in the number two spot like a Jon Kitna, Daunte Culpepper, Charlie Batch or even a Rex Grossman, despite the fact that he sucks horribly. Then for your third QB, go out on a limb, get a young guy that you’re willing to hold onto for a year or three. But then, if he isn’t at least worth being promoted to your number two spot, cut him loose. Take a chance on another guy.

The Giants are the perfect example of teams finally wising up. The perfect example of what I’m talking about has been the New York Football Giants quarterback Jared Lorenzen. He sucked at Kentucky and he sucked in the NFL, but for some reason the Giants kept him around as their number two for way too long. Finally this year they picked up the journeyman David Carr as their reliable number two and took a flyer on Rhett Bromar. (Anyone else think the hospital messed up when his parents tried to name him Brett Rhomar?) I applaud them for rearranging their depth chart, but Rhett Bromar, really? The guy was booted from Oklahoma for NCAA rules violations and then was mediocre at best at Sam Houston State for crying out loud.

This looks like it would’ve been a great spot for Graham Harrell. At the very least, maybe he could’ve taught Eli Manning a few things about accuracy. He needs all the help he can get.