15 biggest NFL quarterback busts of all-time
By John Buhler
10. . Quarterback. Fresno State Bulldogs. David Carr. 15. player
The Houston Texans took Fresno State Bulldogs quarterback David Carr with the first overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. Houston was the last expansion franchise in the NFL and Carr had to deal with all that comes from quarterbacking an expansion team.
In short, Houston went out and signed former All-Pro offensive tackle Tony Boselli from the Jacksonville Jaguars to hopefully protect Carr’s blind side. Boselli was already broken down by that point and retired from the NFL after the 2002 NFL season.
When Carr played for the Texans, they could not have had a worse offensive line, as Carr spent his entire five-year tenure with the Texans (2002-06) mostly on his back. In his five years with the Texans, Houston never had a winning season and Carr was sacked a shocking 249 times.
While he did eventually become a respectable backup quarterback with most notably the New York Giants before retiring after the 2012 NFL season, the perpetual beatings Carr took in Houston derailed what could have been a promising NFL career.
Even if he was the whipping boy quarterbacking an expansion NFL franchise for five years, Carr still put together respectable passing numbers: 14,452 passing yards for 65 touchdowns and 71 interceptions, completing 59.7 percent of his passes for a quarterback rating of 74.9.
Carr is mostly considered a bust because of going No. 1 to the expansion Texans. While never really had a chance to succeed in Houston, his younger brother Derek Carr is already having great success quarterbacking the Oakland Raiders as a soon-to-be third-year pro.
Next: 14. Rick Mirer