By Josh Wolff
July 5, 2008

This is the second in a series of features on prospects for the 2009 NFL draft.

Graham Harrell

So what two words is Harrell hearing so often?

System quarterback.

The same words were used to describe Harrell’s four predecessors — Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie and Cody Hodges — to the throne of the wide-open spread offense run by Texas Tech. All four had incredible senior seasons, combining to throw for nearly 160 TD passes and more than 19,000 yards.

All had short stints in the NFL, never catching on as starters or steady backups, and they never came close to replicating their collegiate success.

“It was difficult and it was obviously different coming from the spread, but I don't think it's that big a factor playing in the spread in college,” Kingsbury said. “When you get to the NFL, you just have to get your reps and an opportunity.”

Harrell is trying to avoid the same fate as Kingsbury, whose longest NFL stint was as the Jets’ third-string QB in 2005. And he’s motivated to shake the label of a “system QB.”

“It’s been said so much since high school, so it’s something I just get used to and it comes with playing at Tech,” Harrell said. “If it was so easy, then every school in the country would be running the spread and putting up the numbers that we do.”

At 6-3, 203 pounds with surprising mobility and quickness, the 23-year-old Harrell shows the build for an NFL quarterback. A first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and son of a high school football coach, Harrell also has the brain to pick apart NFL defenses. And watch the Red Raiders play one quarter and you’ll see Harrell has quite the arm, too.
 
“I think you could have put Graham in Michigan’s offense, Georgia’s offense or Florida’s offense and he would have succeeded,” said Harrell’s father, Sam. “I don’t believe he’s a system quarterback and time will only tell … but one day, he’ll show that he can take a snap under center, drop back and do all the things the NFL people want him to do.”

The younger Harrell is confident in his abilities, but humble in his speech, crediting his teammates for his own success. And when talking about improvement for next season, he not only sees it in the passing game, but the team as well.

“I’m hoping we can go up again,” Harrell said of the prospects of eclipsing the 48 TD passes and 5,705 yards he tallied in 2007. “We put up some great numbers last year and it will be tough to match those, but I feel like, more importantly, we have a chance as a team to be really special.”

Next year could be doubly special for Harrell. The Red Raiders are legitimate BCS title contenders, plus he has a shot to break the all-time collegiate TD-pass record set last year by Hawaii QB Colt Brennan. With 89 career TD passes, Harrell is well within reach of breaking Brennan’s record of 131.

“I haven’t thought about the record much, but it would be a great honor,” Harrell said. “I am going to shoot for it because if you’re close, why not try? It will be a fun challenge, but we have the talent to produce big numbers again and if I get the record, it will be a credit to my teammates.”

As a three-year starter at Ennis High School in Texas, Harrell led his team to a state championship in 2001 as only a sophomore. He lost just three games during his entire career as Ennis’ starting QB. And his 67 TDs and 4,825 passing yards during his senior season both are Texas high school records.

“It was a special few years for me," Harrell said. “I got to put up some numbers that not many people have ever done. I had a great group of receivers and just had a fun time doing it.”

After redshirting in 2004 and backing up Hodges in ’05, Harrell burst onto the college football scene as a sophomore in ’06 when he passed for 38 TDs and 4,555 yards. It was official: Texas Tech had found its next star signalcaller.

But still, Harrell was different. His predecessors at Tech put up brilliant numbers as seniors while Harrell put up equal or better numbers as a sophomore. His dad attributes his quick adjustment to college football to his natural love of the game.

“He’s smart in school, but he’s really football-smart,” Sam Harrell said. “He’s been watching film ever since he was little. He was always asking questions at a young age and he was able to identify coverages and where the ball needed to go very young. He’s just been around football his whole life, and when he was around dad, he was around football.”

Improving from 38 TD passes would be an arduous task for Harrell, especially with Red Raiders fans’ high expectations for the second-year starter, but he found help from a redshirt freshman.

During the offseason between his sophomore and junior seasons, Harrell and redshirt freshman WR Michael Crabtree would throw the ball around during practice. They’d even throw the ball when no one else was around.

“He wants to get better every day, so he was more than willing to go out there and really work on things,” Harrell said about Crabtree. “We said we would go out there every day if we had to. We just wanted to get on the same page.”

On the same page they were. With an incredible chemistry between the two, Harrell threw 48 TD passes (22 to Crabtree) and piled up more than 5,700 passing yards (with nearly 2,000 to Crabtree). He had a season for the ages and won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, given to the nation’s top passer, while Crabtree won the Biletnikoff Award for being the nation’s best receiver. The success did not shock Harrell.

“I always have high expectations for myself,” Harrell said. “I don’t think I’m that surprised because I knew playing in the system I would put up big numbers. And with the talent that has come around here, I knew that if I get to play with these guys, I could really approach some big numbers.”

By the time he graduates, NCAA records will be to Harrell like No. 1 hits to the Beatles. Nobody will disagree with the statement that Harrell is a tremendous college QB, but there remains a lingering question: Can he succeed at the next level?

Kingsbury says that many times NFL success is predicated on getting the right opportunity in the right situation. Unless you’re a Peyton Manning-type talent, finding success can be all about just getting lucky.

“Things have to fall into place because everyone in the NFL can throw and make plays,” Kingsbury said. “The organization has to believe in you, but at the same time, you have to make your own breaks, and I think Graham will be able to do that.”

Harrell points to Wes Welker, a former Texas Tech wideout who was labeled a “system receiver,” as a prime example of Kingsbury’s notion. Welker spent his first three NFL seasons as a role player for a struggling Miami Dolphins team before getting traded to the New England Patriots before the ’07 season.

With the right surrounding cast and finally being used the right way, Welker exploded onto the national radar by tying for the league lead in receptions (112), playing in a Super Bowl and becoming a legitimate NFL star.

While Harrell’s focus remains dissecting and tearing apart Big 12 defenses, he hopes life after Saturday football is Sunday football.

“I definitely think it’s something I could do, break that title (of a system QB),” he said. “But hopefully I’ll be given the chance to have success.”

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