I know he's an explosive playmaker, and obviously adds a dynamic dimension to the offense that the Jets have been missing ( forever? ) What I don't understand is why he's getting so much action out of the back field. In theory RB is one of our deeper more talented positions, Last week showed that given the opportunity CJ still had some giddy up and all 3 backs are averaging over 4.5 per carry... Why then are we shorting these players to give Harvin a few more touches out of the back field? Greg Salas played 10 snaps on the outside, and Kerley only got 20. If the idea is to get the best 11 players on the field as much as possible why would we ever put Salas out there and have Harvin in the backfield,.. One of the few knocks on his game are that he's not the best route runner and has to clean up that portion of his game. Why not let him focus on that and let our RBs handle the hand offs and the work out of the backfield. I originally thought this had more to do with Harvin not having a firm grasp on the playbook and this was an easy way for him to get the ball in his hands to have an impact but It seems more and more like these are intentional pieces of our game plan. I for one would much rather see Harvin focus on being a legit #1 WR and let our 3 backs handle the ball out of the backfield. All 3 of our backs are capable of moving the chains and each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Johnson and Powwell had 8 runs combined while Harvin had 6 himself. IMO, I would much rather see Ivory get ~20 touches a game, And let Powwell and CJ split the rest of the carries while allowing Harvin to focus soley on improving his game at WR.
I like Harvin out of the backfield more than both Powell and Johnson. He's much more explosive. Mornhinweg seems tobe trying to limit Ivory's carries. He had what? 2 carries after the first quarter? He was running all over Pitt on that first drive. MM is trying way too hard to get more players involved rather than just letting his big guns handle the workload.
I wonder if they'd script it different if we had a legit pocket passer. I believe we are rated dead last in passing.
Because he's the fastest player on the offense. Because he's been successful running out of the backfield before.. that's his game Because he hasn't been with the team long enough to be counted on full-time as a outside WR anyway so this is a good way to get him valuable touches. In the case of yesterday - because Pittsburgh is slow on the edges (OLB) After that game you choose to criticize this? Seems odd to me- he's been effective out of the backfield. Even when Pittsburgh had it perfectly defended he still made guys miss. Makes sense to get creative with him.
Its something he's done throughout his career. Putting him there puts pressure on the defense because he has many options out of the backfield.
I understand it's something he's done through out his career,.. My question is with the depth we have at RB, Why take one of them off the field to add Percy,.. It's not like he was that much more affective then either CJ or Powell. He said himself he wanted to be less of a gimmicky player and more of a true WR. To me, This is only going to slow down that progress and/or get him hurt. Leave CJ or Powell in the backfield and let Harvin catch bubble screens and slants from the slot if we want easier ways to get the ball in his hands. Our Rbs need to see more of the ball to help open up the passing lanes a bit more. Mostly my point can be boiled down to; Putting Harvin in the backfield takes away our biggest threat on the outside while not gaining all that much in comparison to what the Chris's can do.
It works that's why and this offense needs anything you can throw out there to jumpstart it. Yesterday after a fast start it floundered most of the game and that usually leads to an L. If not for the turnover ratio of 4-0 yesterday we would have lost because of that, again.
I think putting him in the backfield puts pressure on the defense. He's a mismatch for any LB who has to take him in coverage and he's effective taking handoffs. I think you're over-thinking it. Ivory has still been effective running the ball.
Not really criticizing more just curious,.. As posted above Ivory was running rampant on the steelers D-Line but got very few carries after the first quarter. Our RBs are more then capable ( 4+ yards/per for each of them ) And our WR corp is incredible thin after our starters.... Seems the risk reward of taking one of our RBs out and replacing with Harvin ( while having to move players like Greg Salas into the lineup ) just doesn't add up to me. Seems everytime we line him up in the backfield we tip our hand to the defense and it's only a matter of time before they start to key in on that.
Percy Harvin is not a WR. He's a play maker who plays all around the formation. He played RB in college at FSU but was used the same way due to his explosiveness and his ability to make defenders miss in space. He wants to be a WR for two reasons: first he'll have a longer career outside and second WR's get paid more than RB's. The first factor is true but he's not going to be a great WR outside. He's not polished and he doesn't run great routes. He's not fast enough to destroy people with his speed although he's 4.42 fast. He's not big enough to dominate most CB's either. If he becomes a great route runner he could be a very good WR but that's assuming he polishes his trade. The second factor doesn't matter because he's already paid like a WR. It's a tough position to be in from his perspective. He's most valuable in a role that will likely cut several years off of his career. He's probably one of the top 10 offensive play makers in the game right now in that role. It's his shot at the Hall of Fame. It's a tough position for the Jets to be in too because in order to get the most out of him they need him as that play maker. His disquiet in Seattle was because the Seahawks also wanted him in that role. I'm hoping that Harvin realizes that to be great he's going to either have to play the role he doesn't like or he's going to have to work very hard to become one of the best route runners in the league. If he can do that he has Steve Smith potential outside. That's a big if.
They only ran him like what - 4 times? If Ivory got very few carries after the 1st quarter it wasn't because of percy harvin.
I agree with most of the points you made here, And it comes down to this last statement. I just hope we're not leveraging the future to get a couple more yards per game from him. Particularly since he's not that much of an upgrade to our current RBs, Would rather him take this time while he's still young to focus and hone his craft. ( see the downfall of AA playing many positions ). As you said IF he can make that jump to the next level of WR awareness he has the potential to be really special. Regardless he runs/plays hard and is really fun to watch, Hope he sticks around. 6 carries.
I kinda agree with the op, harvin should be on the field as much as possible, just not at the expense of our running backs.
Percy can get carries but they should be either rushes to the outside or perhaps the occassional 3rd and long draw. Putting him in the bacfield in regular downs and running him between the tackles is just plain stupid. He is not Ivory/Lynch from a body type standpoint. He gets hurt and needlessly exposing him to the body blows of conventiona off-tackle runs for 3 to 4 yards is really stupid.
But the Jets have to consider the downside as well. Harvin has a much higher chance of being injured when he's in the backfield compared to when he's playing on the outside. Luckily his contract is set up in such a way that we can easily cut him at any time (which especially helps us if he gets injured), but we also want to maximize his utility which includes production as well as longevity and minimizing likelihood of injury. So far I've really enjoyed how we've used him, though.
This has always been his game, before the JETS and before the NFL......... and it was at UF, not FSU GO GATORS!
I dont mind him on endarounds but running him up the middle is dumb. Especially when CJ and Powell can do the exact same thing. Also I dont love him in the backfield when were 2-8 either. Save those carries for games that matter.
Harvin is a better back than both Powell and Johnson. Johnson has been absolutely dreadful this year outside of two games. Yesterday, he was terrible again, Percy averaged over 5 yards a carry while Johnson was around 3. We really don't have the depth at running back people seem to think. Ivory is one of the best backs in the league, but is severely underused. Johnson is just about done unless he can find a team that opens massive holes where he can run in a straight line or make one cut. Powell is solid, but nothing special, a legit third down back. Harvin is the second best running back we have and he's our #1/2 receiver. I don't think he has any problem running the gimmicky plays so long as he's used as a legit receiver as well, which he has been. The problem in Seattle is that they barely used him as a receiver. We've done that plenty and his involvement is going to increase every week.
Why, because it works. Percy is our best offensive weapon, we need him on the field often and we need to move him around to keep defenses off balance.
