Hopefully this thread can stay away from the debates about the value of the deal, Harvin's anger-management issues, etc, and instead focus on the package of skills he possesses as a football player. First and foremost, here is a video all Jets fans should watch in order to get an idea of the type of player the Jets HOPE they are getting with this acquisition: A couple of things that stood out to me in the video: Harvin plays MUCH tougher than I expected. Having mostly seen cut-aways during Jets games for his highlights, I didn't expect to see him lowering his shoulder so much; I wrongly had him pegged as more of a jitterbug, but he seems to really welcome contact. The style I see is like a smaller Chris Ivory, but with more elusiveness. I know he lost time to the famous migraines, but perhaps that leads to other durability issues? Sometimes guys are known as speed guys, but they don't seem THAT fast when on the field with other world class athletes. Harvin is THAT fast. On the Lions kickoff @ 2:00 into the video it is obvious he's considerably faster than every other NFL player on the field. Same thing against AZ @2:46. Whether or not he can stay healthy, whether or not he is a jerk, he has on-field talent that has been on display in the NFL which exceeds that of those around him. In many of these highlights he looks like he's operating with a wholly different set of restrictions than those around him. The cutback @ 3:22 made me involuntarily say, "whoa" aloud. While he catches bubble screens, takes handoffs, and quick-hitters, these highlights from his time in Minnesota show connections on deep seams and posts, and an ability to go up and get the ball deep down field. Does anyone know where we can get an assessment of his traditional route-running ability? With regards to that last point, it appears that Seattle completely cut the deep threat aspect of his game out of the equation for some reason (anyone know why?): http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-percy-harvin-saga-how-seattle-lost-and-the-jets-won/ I have previously cited the NYT article about Idzik's main focus as a talent evaluator being gamebreaking, transcendent type offensive players, and I think that's what he sees Harvin. At his best you have a blindingly talented playmaker who can get his hands on the ball in the backfield, at the LOS, quick-hitters across the middle, and even deep down field. Whether or not Idzik gets that is another story, but Harvin's skillset is much deeper than I initially thought - I thought he was a bit more gimmicky, but it appears that he's a traditional WR who is so talented that teams we're ADDING gimmicky things to his plate just to get him more touches.
Harvin is a nightmare to deal with in space. He fights for extra yard after the catch and is consistently among the top receivers in YAC. Having him and Ivory on the field in the same offense is going to be nice.
Thanks for posting that. Bottom line, this guy is an awesome football player. I don't know what his 40 time was but he always looks like he's the fastest guy on the field, and by a lot. This adds excitement to an otherwise shit season. Let's go Percy.
He clocked a 4.41 at the combine, but sometimes there's just an obvious difference in what a guy manages at the combine and what his sped really is. Guys with 4.4 max speeds don't run away from guys like Harvin does.
Speed, good hands, clean routes, he's a hell of a player on the field when healthy, I'll be Interested to see where he lines up this Sunday and how many 2 deep safety looks the Bills give us, could bolster our rushing game tremendously. He adds to our Wildcat package and special teams as well.
Horrible post. No snide comments about Idzik, no dooming the season, no calling for the GM's head, no complaining about the draft, all logical points and helpful videos/articles. Basically, you nailed it. The guy is almost going to impact everyone else more than he's going to make an impact himself. Just being on the field means you have to pay attention to him. You have to put your speediest corner or safety on him, or sometimes both. You can't double Decker, and if you do, Amaro will be open. Or you leave the box wide open for an Ivory run. I like that he said he wants to get downfield more. It made no sense to me that Seattle never used him as a deep threat. If you send him up the sidelines, he's going to burn anyone on him and the safety HAS to cheat. Basically, for a 4th round pick we not only upgraded at receiver, but made everyone else at every offensive skill position better as well.
watching him play on GR, he's got ELITE speed. Like holy shit, thats some high quality football speed, EXCELLENT acceleration, with a pretty good catching ability to boot. he's like the anti stephen Hill, he may have been taller with a slightly faster forty, but that didn't translate NEARLY as well as it did with Harvin. Maybe its having shorter legs or something, but either way we can't get a faster weapon on the offense, not by a long shot. The speed of his cut is exquisite, he's going way one second and then is headed another in a fraction of a second. his ability to gain yards after contact is impressive as well, he just seems to bounce off of weaker tacklers and finds a way around them. he can also shoot an open gap better than anybody, he seems to have mastered the ability to find space in KR situations with the right combo of patience and acceleration. we game-breaker, make no mistake. theres some risks, but there LOADS of talent.
Who knows how this will work out. All I know is the Jets have a difference maker that they desperately need. It is worth the gamble for the relatively low price they paid. To me, his health is a bigger concern than whatever his personality quirks may or may not be...
They guy if on the field and used correctly, should free up the field for the rest of the offense. He's one of those guys where announcers say "you have to know when he's on the field at all times" The deep pass which you and the article brought up is what I'm most excited about. That has been really lacking in the Jets offense this year
Man this guy is good. I wonder if we will slide Kerley outside or reduce his role while sticking with Salas/Graham. Harvin is best in the slot for sure.
I doubt Kerley moves outside, I think when Harvin and Kerley are both on the field it will either be Harvin outside or in the backfield. Harvin will probably take some of Kerley's snaps away, but keep in mind it's going to take a while for Harvin to acclimate to the offense so Kerley probably won't see a dramatically reduced role for now.
If used right there are not many more dangerous guys in the league. We all talked about CJ's "home run" hitting ability before the season started. Well in that case Harvin should be in the silver slugger conversation.
Beast Mode... keeps the defense honest... he likes to screen and catch short passes and go... which should open things up for our other WR's down the field, or take your chances with a one on one with percy and no help... (pick ya poison). but man i wish this was like 2010... imagine him, vick, and CJ2k in 2010 form on the same team... Easily the fastest offense. Shit we still might be one of em. TJ Graham is fast as hell too!
I'm just baffled that Seattle used him almost intentionally different than the Vikings used him.. I don't understand that? Was it a scheme thing? I never watched Percy play all that much when he was a Viking.. After watching him play with the Vikings I realized that he actually has really good hands, he could run routes effectively, I really loved when his QB lobbed it up, a lot of times Percy would intentionally (I assume) make the CB feel like he had the advantage in that situation before Percy turned on the jets and ran passed the CB for the catch. It was refreshing to see. His deep routes looked amazing and the dude is good at contesting balls in the face of all sorts of pressure by the opposing team. Seattle did no utilize any of that, they got way to cute with him, underutilized him completely. I pray we don't do that with him, he could make a huge difference in this offense if we allow him to actually play like a WR is supposed to. Go deep, intermediate, and short routes with him. He can hurt an opposing team in a variety of ways. Seattle only used him in plays that were designed around trickery than actual football.
Its not his playing skills that's the question he is a phenomenal playmaker It's keeping him on the field for 16 games that is the problem
