Harvin: Offensive Rookie of the Year?

by Anthony21 on Aug 13, 2009 2:16 PM CDT in Minnesota Vikings

Slow news day, so I wanted to touch on something we missed earlier in the week. Peter King went to Mankato last week to watch Percy Harvin -- and Harvin did not disappoint:

I expect Harvin to have the opportunity to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year. He's too talented, and he has Peterson to take the pressure off him. And vice versa.

After seeing a bit of Harvin myself this week, I have to agree with King: Percy is amazingly fast and has a unique chance to succeed with the Vikings that he couldn't have elsewhere. King wondered in the article about who the faster player is between Peterson and Harvin, but I don't really care. The bottom line is that both will help each other considerably.

If Harvin fails to compete for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, it's hard to believe that he'd be personally responsible for that failure. Instead, it would come from two possible places: The quarterback position or the coaching staff. He has the talent to win the award. It's just a matter of a) getting him the ball, and b) utilizing him correctly. If I had to pick out one concern about how Chilly and Bevell intend to utilize Harvin, it's that they won't use him on the ground enough (Harvin had far more carries than receptions with Florida). He averaged 9.5 yards per carry in nearly 200 career rushing attempts -- you HAVE to regularly give him the ball on the ground.

Anyway, remember when Chilly went down to Gainesville right before the draft to personally visit with Harvin? Here's what he wanted to accomplish during the visit:

"I wanted to be in his car, and I wanted to smell the car,'' Childress said.

So now that Harvin got the stamp of approval from Chilly and is a member of the Minnesota Vikings, we can only assume that his car lacked a pot smell.

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Comments

Oh, and you forgot a third reason that could keep Harvin from getting the award: two guys, who might not even make the team, converging on him violently during a no-hitting portion of practice.

by Anthony Carter on Aug 13, 2009 2:23 PM CDT reply actions

Hrm

Loadholt should eat them. Big Mac can have the leftovers. (if there are any.)

by Jepp The Viking on Aug 13, 2009 2:27 PM CDT up reply actions

I read about that

in the Star Tribune. Bummer. I haven’t heard that it’s anything serious, but pretty lame to pancake a 1st round rookie in a no-tackle 7 on 7 drill. I didn’t see it, so I’m hoping it was just an accident.

by peterplaysbass on Aug 13, 2009 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions

was just thinking that

3rd reason being the other part of his drop to 22nd overall, his injuries. This is also why he needs to be used mostly as a wide receiver and less as a running back with the Vikings. He is under sized in the backfield and will take a pounding if he lines up there too regularly.

Sure he averaged 9.5 ypc but Reggie Bush averaged 7.7 ypc (on more attempts) and look how well he runs the ball. We can’t forget to run him but he has to be a WR first. Don’t forget, a screen can be just like a long handoff…

by Cobra312004 on Aug 13, 2009 4:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Well the difference between Bush and Percy is that Bush was drafted to be the feature back of the Saints offense. We shouldn’t, and definitely aren’t, going to be asking him to do that in any way shape or form. Bush just can’t run between the tackles, which I hope we wouldn’t ask Harvin to do. But running to the outside, both of them should be pretty good.

Though I am a bit wary of giving the guy the ball on the ground. Especially if he has an injury history. That’s just asking for trouble.

by Frost on Aug 13, 2009 8:05 PM CDT up reply actions

It was Brett Favre

by Jepp The Viking on Aug 13, 2009 2:33 PM CDT reply actions

legalize it!

by CardsDefense on Aug 13, 2009 3:10 PM CDT reply actions

hah...

I wonder if Chilly has ever had a friend that smoked, or smoked himself?

Because in my experience, without admitting personal use, the smell is gone from a vehicle after 20 minutes or so. The smell is not like cigarettes, which you can smell for weeks and months after it is done.

by Bjorno on Aug 13, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions

"You smell somethin' Rabbit?"

sniff sniff … “Fear.”

"The latest Brett Favre summer saga apparently has come to an end. The 39-year-old reportedly informed the Vikings on Tuesday that he will not come out of retirement for a 19th season."

The greatest news I've heard all year!

by TheViking83 on Aug 13, 2009 4:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Littering and littering and littering anddddddd smoking the reefer

by clones21 on Aug 13, 2009 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Sweet mother of god!

by Bjorno on Aug 13, 2009 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions

the shnozberries taste like shnozberries

by CardsDefense on Aug 13, 2009 5:09 PM CDT up reply actions

is that how you spell it? i always wondered. he was right though. they do.

by iseepurplepeople on Aug 14, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions

I think Chili was a big head

back in the day. Come to think of it, he still is.

by VikingBillArlingtonVA on Aug 13, 2009 10:08 PM CDT up reply actions

+1

by PurpleCrush on Aug 13, 2009 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Let's not jump to that conclusion yet

Let’s see, still need to get a QB to get the ball to him, have a system no QB get’s the hang of and looking possibly like another season of relying on the run. Just not seeing it right now unless we have a major break through at QB and not holding my breath on that one.

"If you're gonna shoot, shoot, don't talk"

by VikesFaninNM on Aug 13, 2009 5:38 PM CDT reply actions

Harvin can ONLY be a serious Rookie of the Year candidate IF

…he is successful as a WR and catches several bombs without (m)any drops.
…he makes at least 1-2 great blocks during big running plays.

He will NOT be a serious ROY candidate IF:
…his main role is in the silly Wildcat formation (which will not produce as well for the Vikings as it did for the 2008 Dolphins).
…he runs decoy routes.
…he drops a few passes early in the season.
…he has any off-the-field issues at all.
…he can’t help in run support.
…he can’t get open downfield.
…he can’t run the routes correctly and/or communicate with his QB.
…he can’t even beat out Sidney Rice or Bobby Wade for the #2 WR job.

ROYs aren’t always worth much anyway. The Kansas City Royals have had former ROYs Angel Berroa and Bob Hamelin, but only produced 1 winning team during those players’ times. Mark Quinn was a strong ROY candidate with 2 HR in his first game (Mark who? Exactly!), too.

In the NFL, 4 of the last 10 and 5 of the last 20 offensive rookies of the year did not become instrumental in a dominant offense and/or championship run (Leonard Russell, Mike Anderson, Anthony Thomas, Vince Young, Cadillac Williams). Only 5 of the past 30 ROYs went on to win the Offensive Player of the Year award (Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders, and Marshall Faulk combined to win 9 of those 30 awards). In between, there are several players who were definitely worth having, although the real point is that Reidel Anthony never showed up on either list despite ranking in the top 10 in 2 offensive categories in 1998, his second year in the league and last year as a starter.

On the defensive side, only 1-2 of the past 20 did not become part of a dominant D or a SB team (Kendrell Bell and maybe Tim Bowens), but only 2 DROYs became DPOYs in the past 30 years (Lawrence Taylor and Brian Urlacher).

by KC Viking on Aug 13, 2009 7:38 PM CDT reply actions

TJack

One good thing I do have to say about TJack is he is excellent at the short hitch or screen pass the receivers he has had up until now don’t have very good yards after catch. Harvin comes in and that opens up a whole new world in the Vikes offense and maybe he will become a better deep passer because some of you naysayers out there will ease up on him a bit and he will relax a LOT!

by BP31 on Aug 13, 2009 7:39 PM CDT reply actions

YAC

Advanced Football Stats concluded that YAC belonged primarily to the receiver rather than the QB. Of course, there are problems (or at least inquiries) into that conclusion (surely some QBs throw more deep slants to certain receivers and/or in some systems more often than they throw short curls or sideline passes, and surely some QBs are blessed with 2-3 receivers who are more able to gain YAC, and surely there are some WRs who are blessed with a great QB, and surely some receivers are indeed strong enough to break a short curl for a few more yards than others…). In any case, I wouldn’t expect YAC to come down to Sage vs. T-Jack so much as playcalling, quality of opponents’ D, and the fact that our WR corps is presumably better (although Aundrae Allison was #2 on the team in YAC/REC last year).

by KC Viking on Aug 13, 2009 10:22 PM CDT up reply actions