Impressed so far with Richardson and Norwood

[MexHawk]

I think Carroll might have dumped Harvin just to get Richardson and Norwood on the active roster and into the game. Get Wilson comfortable with them. Get them ready for the postseason. After seeing them play the last few weeks, it just might have been a brilliant move.
Thoughts?

I still think the Harvin trade was a "moneyball" move.

 

[HansGruber]

I remember when Pete cut Housh for zero savings at a time when he was more or less the only decent WR we had. A few days later, Big Mike Williams was lighting it up. A week after that, Brandon Stokley.

There is a method to Pete's madness. This Harvin situation with the new receivers actually making the offense better reminds me of that.

Also, the Jets were a mess with Harvin yesterday.

Definitely. I brought up the Housh move in another thread shortly after the trade. He ended up costing the Ravens a playoff game that postseason with a typical dropped pass on 4th down on a comeback drive where he was wide open. Housh being Housh. I belly laughed so hard when I saw that and it was one of the things that really drove it home to me that Pete really is that much smarter than most. Crazy like a fox.

Likewise on Sunday, when I saw Harvin run that kickoff return out from 9 yards deep in the end zone only be tackled at the 5. He did the same crap against Dallas after their final TD, which put us on the 15 yd line, down with only 4 mins. You could kind of feel the loss of momentum and Pete was talking to him during the TV timeout, clearly unhappy with his decision there. When I heard about the trade, that came to mind immediately. Harvin just wasn't producing, and Pete wanted to see what they had in Norwood and Richardson.

Sure, there were problems in the locker room. But I don't believe they were the impetus for the trade. Listening to Pete in the weeks leading up to the trade, he kept saying he wanted to get Norwood and Richardson on the field, that they really liked what they saw in practice, and he went so far as to criticize the 46-player active list limitation.

Yesterday, he explicitly said they are giving Norwood and Richardson a lot of reps because they want them ready for the playoffs and that it will pay off. He then said they were thrilled with their progress and that they're exceeding expectations.

I love how much better we look with those two over Harvin. Percy just wasn't adding anything, and you could argue that he actually limited us. since the trade, the Seahawks look like a team coming out of a funk and finding their way.

 

[Beer Hawk]

Anyone know where I can find a highlight of his 3rd down catch? Missed it live, can't seem to find it on YouTube.

 

[olyfan63]

Bear with me, I love that the rooks are getting their snaps, but some of this post is going to be about untangling Pete and John's thinking that led to this point, where Harvin's gone and the rooks are playing. Clearly, they showed Pete enough that he became ready to pull the trigger sooner, rather than later.

I think Pete and John had figured out Percy Harvin's games before the draft. Too bad they didn't figure it out before making the trade.

I had written in other threads that Percy's behavior and history, even just the publically observable ones, check an awful lof of boxes for Borderline Personality Disorder (or closely related issues). PC/JS knew some of this up front prior to the trade, but, Big Balls Pete, feeling flush with success from successful reclamation projects, overestimated his ability to turn lead into gold with Harvin, on the personal side. As the Harvin fiasco played out, and the team felt Harvin ready, but Harvin opted out, (just one of many clues, I'm sure) Pete and John began to understand, and Pete in particular began to understand the depth and intractability of Percy's personal challenges and mental state.

How did Pete, John and the scouting team fail to pick up on film and from games that Harvin sucked at actual route running? I'm sure they picked it up, but my bet is that Papa Pete had such supreme confidence in his coaching team's ability to "coach him up" with Harvin, that Pete overruled the doubters; after all, Pete had been drooling over Harvin's explosive talents for a long time. Pete saw what he wanted to see, see how things could be, and ignored what was really there.

Contrast Percy Harvin with a Pappa Pete reclamation project that has to be called an emerging success at this point: Bruce Irvin. All Irvin's ever done is keep showing up, work his ass off in practice, do his best to accept and learn from his coaching. Haters can question Irvin's football smarts, personal smarts, etc., but Irvin just keeps showing up and working hard, doing his best to do whatever's asked of him, at LEO, at LB, wherever. If Harvin had the personal makeup to approach things in the workmanlike way Irvin has, he could have been an MVP candidate. But Harvin doesn't. And probably never will. Pete realized this, before the draft, probably even well before the Super Bowl.

Pete realized that Harvin was unlikely to ever truly develop the downfield deep receiving threat skill set,, pattern running, defense recognition and adjustment, etc. (Picture the 4th and 7 in the NFCCG where SF jumps offsides, and all FOUR receivers see it and immediately convert their routes to Go routes and Kearse catches that huge TD; Harvin doesn't necessarily strike me as a player who would see and do that in that situation)

Both Richardson and Norwood strike me as players who, after proper development, would have made that read in the NFCCG, but only time will tell.

Pete and John knew the extent of their mistake clearly before the draft, thus taking Richardson in the 2nd round, to try to get some of what they had originally hoped to get from Harvin. I think they were just hoping to have Percy flash some things in the first few games, actually "showcasing" him, hoping to have higher trade value, while buying time for the rooks to develop and step in.

Anyway, damn glad to see the rooks on the field, showing what they can do, and see Harvin in NY, as just another sideshow in that circus.

 

[Hawksfanatik]

I am excited to see who these two can do over the remainder of the season. It was a little frustrating seeing guys like Lockette and Walters get playing time over them. (granted Lockette is a heck of a ST gunner)

Paul Richardson has skills. I hope he can stay healthy and continue to be integrated further into the offense. Norwood seems like a potential possession/3rd down/red zone type because he has good hands.