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The O'Brien Finalists Revealed: Graham Harrell - 12.3.08

3.20.09 - "Kingsbury hasn’t done much except play every season at some different level of professional football since he left (Texas Tech). Sonny Cumbie was the franchise guy of LA’s Arena team. I think the other thing about it, in regards to quarterbacks, is that there’s only 30-some teams who are going to have a starting quarterback, so the notion that they’re not successful I think is false. Anybody that uses the word “system” right off the top, you know you’re talking to a bad football coach. Because anybody who says anything like that doesn’t understand the point of coaching. Anybody who calls plays has a system, so I assume their team calls plays, if they don’t they probably ought to start. I can’t think of any team that doesn’t call plays, so right there you have a system. This system quarterback stuff, all the guy is doing is acknowledging that he’s not a very good football coach because his quarterback doesn’t have the success that maybe (Cody) Hodges does or Graham Harrell or whoever; they want to call him a system quarterback and actually what they’re saying is they’re a bad football coach. The other thing that amazes me about it is in the NFL, most of the quarterbacks are playing in an offense that's similar to ours. They spread out, they throw it most of the time, and they operate from the shotgun, which is similar to what we do. So that immediately fits with the NFL model better than most of the quarterbacks from other systems. My favorite cop-out is those coaches that say, “Well, I don’t know if he can take a snap or drop back”. First of all, he’s (Harrell) done plenty of that. Second of all, how big of an insecurity that is as a coach, to feel like you don’t have the ability to teach somebody to take a snap and step backwards three, five, seven steps. We’re talking about a coach who is 30-50 years old dealing with a skill he can do himself and yet he doesn’t think he can teach it to a world class athlete?" - College Football Insiders Interview With Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach

1.27.09 – MOBILE, Graham Harrell (QB-Texas Tech) - Maybe Harrell's lack of arm strength was not surprising, but we were shocked at how glaring it was during the game. He was well short on many throws and looked like Colt Brennan did last year, except Brennan had the excuse of losing 20+ pounds because of a bout with the flu. Harrell found ways to mask his arm strength issues in practice, but the game exposed this major problem with his game. Draft Guys On Location at The Senior Bowl

1.23.09 - Going under center, Graham Harrell did a nice job dropping back and talking the ball. He didn’t look like a quarterback who spent his entire career (high school and college) in shot-gun spread offenses. Too bad he wasn’t as impressive when asked to throw the football – his ball flutters. Even on the rare occasion when he threw a tight spiral, Harrell simply didn’t have the arm on the deep comeback throws. - NFL Draft Bible On Location At The Senior Bowl

1.21.09 - The Red Raiders' signal caller is coming off back-to-back 5,000-yard/40 touchdown seasons…yet NFL scouts still have questions regarding his ability to throw the football. Is it fair? To answer a question with a question – how have Kliff Kingsbury (5,017 yards, 45 touchdowns in 2002), B.J. Symons (5,883 yards, 52 touchdowns in 2003), Sonny Cumbie (4,742 yards, 32 touchdowns in 2004) and Cody Hodges (4,197 yards, 31 touchdowns in 2005) fared in the NFL? While Harrell is a far better pro prospect than any of his predecessors, the fact they have done absolutely nothing in the league where they play for pay doesn't help the Texas native. Most of Harrell's passes travel 10 yards or less and he will have to adjust to playing under center after playing in the spread offense not only in his entire college career, but in high school as well. - NFL Draft Bible On Location At The Senior Bowl

1.21.09 – MOBILE, Graham Harrell(Texas Tech) put a little more zip on his passes, throwing tight spirals, but his arm still failed to wow us. His deep out floated, so he failed the litmus test for NFL arm strength. We aren't writing him off because of the calm he showed in the pocket. He also looked very comfortable throwing on the move. Draft Guys On Location at The Senior Bowl

1.20.09 – MOBILE, Graham Harrell(Texas Tech) Graham Harrell struggled with putting zip on his out routes. He fumbled the snap a couple of times, and tripped over a lineman's legs once. Of course, that was the play where B.J. Raji collapsed the pocket so it's not entirely his fault. Draft Guys On Location at The Senior Bowl

1.19.09 – MOBILE, Graham Harrell(Texas Tech) There were many eyes on Harrell today as some see him as just a "system" QB. Graham had a nice first day to try and prove the doubters wrong. He looked very comfortable underneath the center, and I liked the crispness of his 3,5, and 7 step drops. Like Bomar, Graham also did a nice job of checking down as he was very careful with the football. His passes were very deliberate and he did a nice job of hitting his receivers in stride. Just when it seemed like he was never going to challenge the DBs downfield he started throwing deep, including a nice sideline pass to Brooks Foster. Draft Guys On Location at The Senior Bowl

1.1.09 - Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell will go bowling twice this January. After taking on Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl Friday, Harrell will turn his focus towards the Under Armour Senior Bowl. Harrell has accepted an invitation to the 60th game, officials announced Thursday. Kickoff for the January 24th game in Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium is scheduled for 6 pm (CT) and the game will be televised by the NFL Network.

12.16.08 - Texas Tech teammates quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree – pass or catch 2008 – finished fourth and fifth in the voting. There is little doubt Harrell should have been extended an invitation to the selection show – a belief most agreed with at the presentation – and received more respect from voters – his 213 points were 1,391 points less than Colt McCoy. Didn’t Harrell beat McCoy head-to-head with the best “Heisman moment” to boot? - College Football Insiders

12.12.08 - Despite winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the most “outstanding senior quarterback” (Tebow and McCoy are juniors, Bradford is a sophomore), the Texas Tech signal caller was not invited to the Heisman Trophy Presentation. The Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach was not pleased, and I for one don’t blame him: "If Graham is not invited to the Heisman, they ought to quit giving out the award. It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance."

Harrell should not be labeled a “system quarterback” because all four play in spread offenses geared towards prolific numbers. If you want “more than just numbers” – Harrell’s Red Raiders were 11-1, the same exact regular season record that Bradford, Tebow and McCoy led their respective teams to. (P.S. He plays in the SAME conference as McCoy and Bradford.) New Heights: Unlike Texas, Oklahoma and Florida – one national championship each since 2000 – this is new territory for Texas Tech. That should count for something, no?

Here are how Harrell’s numbers stack with the rest:
Harrell: 4,747 Yards, 71.5 Percent, 41 Touchdowns, 7 Interceptions
Bradford: 4,464 Yards, 68.3 Percent, 48 Touchdowns, 6 Interceptions
McCoy: 3,445 Yards, 77.6 Percent, 32 Touchdowns, 7 Interceptions
Tebow: 2,515 Yards, 64.9 Percent, 28 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions

12.8.08 - Nation's leading passer and the NCAA's active career leader in passing yards (15,429) and passing touchdowns (130)... Named a 2008 finalist for the Manning Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Maxwell Award, Wuerffel Trophy and Unitas Golden Arm Award... Academic All- Big 12 selection, graduating in only three-and-a-half years... Participated in visits to local children's hospitals and nursing homes. - National Football Foundation

Scout's Take - 7.1.08

Harrell’s numbers have been off the charts, but that is nothing new for Mike Leach’s quarterbacks since he arrived in Lubbock. Even so, it is difficult not to be impressed by eleven games of 400+ Passing yards in 13 contests during his junior campaign. Harrell is a cool costumer, who in back-to-back seasons led the Red Raiders to improbable comeback wins in bowl games, earning MVP honors both times. He is bright and makes good decisions with the football and also earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors for his work in the classroom. He will have to prove to pro scouts that he is not a “system quarterback” to improve his chances of playing in the NFL. Harrell makes quick decisions and is an accurate passer, but does not have prototypical size or arm strength. He lacks experience in a pro-style offense and under center. At this point, he is a late round draft choice at best.