Percy Harvin

[jnormy]

Here are a handful of reasons why I'm somewhat skeptical of Percy Harvin's impact on the NFL:

Chad Jackson, Taylor Jacobs, Reche Caldwell, Travis Taylor, Jacquez Green

What do they all have in common? They were all super-hyped, early-round WRs from the University of Florida in the past decade or so who never even came close to living up to the hype. Now I'm not saying Harvin is going to be another Chad Jackson; but at what point do we start to wonder if it's maybe the system and not the player that produces such prolific numbers from the WR position, only to see those players flop in the big show? Of course there are always exceptions and the Vikings certainly seem to feel that they have something special in Harvin, but call me wary until Percy actually does something in a real NFL game.

[brett5673]

Yesm I coldnt agree with you more on the Florida skepticism, Ive thought about that and ther is truth, althouh, take Note that none of them had almost the same amount of rushing yards as receiveing. Oh, but on the flipside, the last time vikings took a WR in the 20's of the draft who originated from a Florida college was Randy moss

[chromeX]

Yesm I coldnt agree with you more on the Florida skepticism, Ive thought about that and ther is truth, althouh, take Note that none of them had almost the same amount of rushing yards as receiveing. Oh, but on the flipside, the last time vikings took a WR in the 20's of the draft who originated from a Florida college was Randy moss

Um, Moss didn't even play in Florida, he played at Marshall.

[tolleyjenkins]

Yesm I coldnt agree with you more on the Florida skepticism, Ive thought about that and ther is truth, althouh, take Note that none of them had almost the same amount of rushing yards as receiveing. Oh, but on the flipside, the last time vikings took a WR in the 20's of the draft who originated from a Florida college was Randy moss

Um, Moss didn't even play in Florida, he played at Marshall.

Maybe he was conceived at a Florida college...?

[Dan Lambskin]

Yesm I coldnt agree with you more on the Florida skepticism, Ive thought about that and ther is truth, althouh, take Note that none of them had almost the same amount of rushing yards as receiveing. Oh, but on the flipside, the last time vikings took a WR in the 20's of the draft who originated from a Florida college was Randy moss

Um, Moss didn't even play in Florida, he played at Marshall.

he was a Redshirt Freshman at Florida State but was kicked off the team for smoking the chronic

[petedog9]

Maybe he was thinking Santana but he palyed at the U.

[petedog9]

Florida WRs drafted in Rounds 1-3 since 1990
Year Rd. Name Team Yrs. Rec. Yds. TD
2002 2 Jabar Gaffney * Hou. 1 41 483 1
2 Reche Caldwell * S.D. 1 22 208 3
2000 1 Travis Taylor * Bal. 3 130 1,705 12
3 Darrell Jackson * Sea. 3 185 2,671 18
1999 3 Travis McGriff Den. 3 5 88 1
1998 2 Jacquez Green * T.B. 5 162 2,311 7
1997 1 Ike Hilliard * NYG 6 259 3,585 21
1 Reidel Anthony T.B. 5 144 1,846 16
1994 3 Willie Jackson Dal. 10 284 3,641 24
1991 3 Ernie Mills Pit. 9 196 2,934 20

Out of that list.. Only Darrel Jackson had even a mediocre career...

[Kensat30]

I only draft Harvin in return yardage leagues this year. For what I've seen and read, Harvin is somewhat slow to pickup the WR position. He has great athletic talent, but I have a hard time seeing him break into the starting lineup in Minnesota anytime soon, especially with their playoff aspirations.

Rice has looked very good to me this preseason and I think he has locked up a major role in the offense. Berrian is the de facto #1 WR even with his injuries (he's earned it IMO) and I think these two guys are pretty much cement in that starting lineup with Wade in the slot. Favre can make anyone good, but Harvin has a lot of work to do and I don't see more than 40 or 50 catch upside there. Best case scenario is the guy gets on the field on the 3rd down plays and Favre locks him in on the deep throws. I have a hard time seeing this guy start as anything but a benched WR3 in 2009 in standard scoring leagues.

[smackthefirst]

Here are a handful of reasons why I'm somewhat skeptical of Percy Harvin's impact on the NFL:

Chad Jackson, Taylor Jacobs, Reche Caldwell, Travis Taylor, Jacquez Green

What do they all have in common? They were all super-hyped, early-round WRs from the University of Florida in the past decade or so who never even came close to living up to the hype. Now I'm not saying Harvin is going to be another Chad Jackson; but at what point do we start to wonder if it's maybe the system and not the player that produces such prolific numbers from the WR position, only to see those players flop in the big show? Of course there are always exceptions and the Vikings certainly seem to feel that they have something special in Harvin, but call me wary until Percy actually does something in a real NFL game.

I guess I'll stay on the opposite side of this argument, but Harvin was far from a traditional WR if you can even call him a WR. Of course this isn't an argument to get into, but he was listed as a RB at Florida as well as a WR and he did happen to have more carries than receptions every year he was at Florida.

And when we change to the listing of RBs out of Florida as opposed to WRs, we see a different picture.

Emmit Smith
Fred Taylor
Eric Rhett
Earnest Graham
DeShawn Wynn
Neal Anderson

And I'll be back later for the rest of the comments after this post as I'm leaving work now.

[jnormy]

Here are a handful of reasons why I'm somewhat skeptical of Percy Harvin's impact on the NFL:

Chad Jackson, Taylor Jacobs, Reche Caldwell, Travis Taylor, Jacquez Green

What do they all have in common? They were all super-hyped, early-round WRs from the University of Florida in the past decade or so who never even came close to living up to the hype. Now I'm not saying Harvin is going to be another Chad Jackson; but at what point do we start to wonder if it's maybe the system and not the player that produces such prolific numbers from the WR position, only to see those players flop in the big show? Of course there are always exceptions and the Vikings certainly seem to feel that they have something special in Harvin, but call me wary until Percy actually does something in a real NFL game.

I guess I'll stay on the opposite side of this argument, but Harvin was far from a traditional WR if you can even call him a WR. Of course this isn't an argument to get into, but he was listed as a RB at Florida as well as a WR and he did happen to have more carries than receptions every year he was at Florida.

And when we change to the listing of RBs out of Florida as opposed to WRs, we see a different picture.

Emmit Smith
Fred Taylor
Eric Rhett
Earnest Graham
DeShawn Wynn
Neal Anderson

And I'll be back later for the rest of the comments after this post as I'm leaving work now.

Excellent point about the carries, although the roster on the Vikings Web site lists him at WR so I assume that's the position they're playing him, even if they do write up a few funky plays with him coming out of the backfield. A rose by any other name and all. Nearly all of those RBs on your list are/were downhill-running, power-type backs, not smallish scatback types like Harvin.

And besides, if Harvin's looking to make much of an impact from the RB position, he's definitely on the wrong team. I'm not saying he WON'T be a good NFL player, but I'll always take a wait-and-see, skeptical approach when it comes to a Gator WR in the pros.