It is really not possible for the niners to draft another QB. This does, however, go to show that taking a questionable QB at the top of round 1 is a huge risk for the franchise, because it reduces your flexibility in the future.
For example, Harrington (#3) and Rogers (#2) have both been busts for the Lions, but Harrington has done a lot more damage to the Lions, in part because his selection prevented the Lions from drafting somebody like Roethlisberger.
I find it interesting that people are giving up Harrington but not prepared to give up on Carr. IMO, Carr’s career so far has been as bad as Harrington’s. Harrington has 2 years left on his contract and Carr will be a free agent if the Texans don’t pick up his option. This means Houston could choose to let Carr walk without penalty while Detroit would lose whatever was left on Harrington’s signing bonus. People talk about the Texans and Bush like it is a done deal. Until the Texans re-sign Carr, I won’t be shocked if the Texans call Lienart name on draft day.
First, Mort said about a week ago that Bob McNair has said they are exercising the option on David Carr. So assuming Mort was right, Leinart doesn't look like a possibility at all.But as for giving up on Harrington but not Carr, I think there's some justification there. Harrington has not been an accurate passer his entire time in the NFL. He's had a decent if not great line to play behind, yet he's turned out the two worst yards per attempt averages in NFL history. Not just the worst, but the two worst. (Source, Doug Drinen).
ESPN Insider did an article comparing Carr, Harrington and Ramsey, the three QBs from that draft class. They looked at every single play for each last year, and measured metrics like decision making, accuracy of throws, how many bad decisions that cost their teams they made, etc. Harrington ranked pretty low overall, and especally at the bottom of pass accuracy. And not just overall, but he was inaccurate at every distance, from deep to short throws. I think Harrington has had a pretty good shot and we haven't seen much from him.
Carr on the other hand has been very accurate and generally hasn't made a lot of bad decisions. His completion percentage is in the low 60s, Harringtons in the mid 50s. Carr hasn't had a lot of time to throw. There are definitely some knocks on him. Some people believe he is too slow of a decision maker. I think there may be a little bit of merit there, though I think most people I hear it from tend to overstate it a bit, as watching the games live when Palmer was the OC, there were a lot of plays that not only didn't a receiver get open, but the routes were run so deep that Carr had to bail or was sacked before the receivers made their cuts.
Carr's gotten shellshocked by the number of hits he's taken, and that is his biggest problem if you ask me. He doesn't do a good job of moving up in the pocket to buy time like most QBs, though it's kind of understandable given how bad the interior line play has been. Carr is fast, but not elusive. He got into a mentality that he'd take off for the sidelines, and often this moved him outside the pocket and let the D chase him, when he would have had a bit more time if he'd stayed longer and kept the O-linemen between he and the pass rusher.
The entire team gave up on Capers and Palmer, so it's kind of hard to judge Carr based on this season. But even so, if you watch a Texans game other than that horrible night he had against KC, Carr has been making accurate throws and delivering the ball to where his receivers can get it. I just don't see Harrington doing that as much as an NFL QB should. Even on a poor team like the Lions, I think he should have shown more than he has by now.
Edit to add: In summary, I think a lot of Carr's problems can be solved by getting some decent coaching, and having a good line to play behind. Harrington, I don't know that that is going to do it. I don't know how much coaching can improve things like accuracy.