NFL Draft Bust Vault: QB Joey Harrington, Detroit Lions

Nov 15, 2015; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Detroit Lions helmet during warmups prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Detroit won 18-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

The NFL Draft. An opportunity for a franchise to top-notch talent as well as depth to their roster. The draft also allows teams to dig their holes even deeper by selecting players who are not NFL ready and/or haunted by the bright lights of the league. Those players are normally call busts.

In my initial chapter of Draft Vault, I will turn back the clocks to profile the draft busts that have ruined a franchise, issued heartbreak to fans, and left an unfavorable lasting image. Today, I will open up with the third overall selection of the 2002 NFL Draft. A quarterback who finished fourth in the 2001 Heisman voting and went ahead of notable names such as Dwight Freeney, Ed Reed, and Clinton Portis. Let’s look back at the career of Joey Harrington.

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One standout moment of the Harrington’s pre-draft experience was the billboard. The enormous billboard in Times Square, 7th Avenue to be exact, of Harrington as a promotion of the QB as a Heisman candidate prior to the 2001 season. As you can tell by his placement in the votes that it didn’t help much. What it did do was cast Harrington to even greater height as it displayed him as a larger-than-life individual. Before his senior season. You know, the one season that he has to perform well to be a Heisman winner. Harrington did post good numbers during his senior season (2,764 yards, 27 TDs, six INTs). Although, a certain quarterback from Nebraska had a “better” season.

Harrington was given the keys to the franchise in the Motor City of Detroit. Harrington fumbled those keys not only in his rookie season but in pretty much all of his four seasons as Lions quarterback. He completed no more than 57% of his passes in his four seasons with interception totals of 16 in 2002, 22 in 2003, and 12 INTs in 2004 and 2005 as well. Granted a small portion of his lack of success in Detroit had to do with then GM Matt Millen drafting WRs Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, and Mike Williams in consecutive season starting in 2003. After only winning 18 of his 55 starts in Detroit

In 2006, Harrington was traded to the Miami Nick Sabans where he backed up Daunte Culpepper, filled in for an injured Culpepper in Week 5 and guided the team to a 5-6 record including one of those wins on the road at Detroit on Thanksgiving day. Again, he found himself with another team in 2007, this time the Atlanta Falcons. Another season, another cup of coffee with a team.

Why was Harrington a bust? Was it because of the front office poor habit of bad drafts while in Detroit? Was it Harrington being more average than elite? Was it Harrington lacking the ability to uphold the lofty expectations that were casted on him? Could it be a combination of both?

Regardless of your viewpoint, Harrington dropped the ball on his career. Although, this particular unique situation offers something different. He had an lackluster front office. A coaching staff that didn’t have much of a direction. Plus, Lions teams in those four years of players on their last legs. Harrington’s bust status wasn’t on the catastrophic level as Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russell, or Tony Mandarich but being drafted 3rd overall comes with heavy expectations. Heavy expectations that Harrington had a considerable amount of trouble holding up to.

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