David Carr, Houston Texans, 2002
The first overall selection in the 2002 NFL Draft, and the first pick in the history of the Houston Texans franchise, David Carr spent the early part of his NFL career getting his brain beat in behind the Texans porous offensive line. He was sacked 76 times in his rookie season, and fumbled the football 12 times. In 2004, he was sacked 49 times, which was still the highest in the NFL.
Eventually, questions arose as to whether Carr was getting gun shy in the pocket (who could blame him?) and whether he was truly committed to football. After getting sacked 249 times during his first five years in Houston, the Texans replaced Carr by acquiring Matt Schaub via trade.
Joey Harrington, Detroit Lions, 2002
Even though Joey Harrington wasn’t drafted to an expansion team in the 2002 NFL Draft, he suffered a lot of the same fate as David Carr: suffering from a lack of talent, especially along the offensive line, as the quarterback of the Detroit Lions.
The Lions tried to find Harrington a wide receiver in the 2003 NFL Draft in Charles Rogers, but the latter’s career was destroyed because of injuries and substance abuse issues.
Meanwhile, Harrington struggled under Steve Mariucci’s “win-now” approach, which culminated in the coach bringing in Jeff Garcia to replace Harrington.