18. Joey Harrington – 3rd overall to Lions in 2002:
It’s still debatable as to how much Harrington’s bust status is due to his own poor play and how much of it is due to Detroit’s woeful offensive line and front office decisions during his tenure. But make no mistake- he was a bust nonetheless. Harrington came into the NFL as a much-ballyhooed quarterback out of Oregon and proceeded to put up dismal stats of 12 touchdowns to 16 interceptions with a 50.1 completion percentage. The Lions finished the year with a subpar 3-13 record. He compiled an 18-37 record in Detroit.
He was eventually benched in 2005 and traded to Miami in 2006. There, he racked up a 5-6 record with Miami in 11 games. He was traded to Atlanta the following year and signed with the Saints in 2008 before flaming out of the league in September 2009. It’s debatable if Harrington’s bust status was due to myriad factors mentioned before, and Detroit coach Steve Mariucci’s West Coast offense may not have been beneficial to his skillset. Regardless, he just never put it together in the NFL.
