Percy Harvins Godlike explosivness

[Hawks46]

The biggest thing that makes Percy so damn explosive is he gets north / south immediately. He's not a big guy, so some associate him with previous scat back type players. We see most smaller guys get east / west a lot...if not looking for holes, looking for safety. That ain't Harvin.

His quickness allows him to juke defenders with very little sideways movement. it's a feint to the left, a quick wiggle to the right and movements so subtle that he loses very little top speed in the process. Many are as fast as Harvin, but few have his quickness, and it's that quickness that enables him to play very fast.

Usually I agree with pretty much everything you say, but I disagree here. It's his elite acceleration that makes him, period. Look at the SB; those fly sweeps aren't North/South, but he gets the ball and gets the corner SO fast, even when guys know it's coming, they still can't stop him from grabbing the edge.

If you overplay it, the Hawks are going to fake it to Harvin and give it to Lynch while everyone has ran 3 steps the wrong way. Lynch will make you pay for that.

Look at some of Harvin's highlights. There is a lot of cuts, changing direction, and one of Harvin's favorites: out right stopping then starting up. He actually called it "the hesi" when they did that clip of him going over film with Sherman. What makes all of this deadly is that Harvin can get to top end in 2 steps, which is insane. I'm not sure if he's the flat out fastest guy in his top gear in the NFL, but he gets there so freaking fast that he's still one of the fastest guys in the league.

You're right though, Hawkwow. Usually it's how fast a guy gets North/South. Devin Hester talked about why he was so successful on returns and he said he picks his hole and goes NOW. No hesitation, no East/West.

Harvin's still in a different dimention though. He really can hesitate and then make guys miss.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

That 4.4 40 is utter bs. He's a 4.2ish guy at least. The guy is an Olympic level sprinter if he had training for Godsake! All I see is that he's in FF while everyone else is in PLAY in an actual game.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

...

 

[BlueBlood]

I love him. :179417:

 

[Ozzy]

He is much faster than 4.4. He reportedly ran a ridiculous time at Florida 4.1-4.2) and said he had an off day at the combine. Just watching his game tape puts him in another league than Tate who is a 4.4 guy. Also something people don't realize is some players are much faster in pads. A lot of smaller guys are slower in pads for whatever reason. I played with a guy growing up who flew without pads but wasn't the same in pads. I'm rambling but point is, Percy is very fast. Probably top 3-5 in the NFL fast.

 

[plyka]

the only thing that scares me is if he hits a defender at full speed and screws up his hip again. He's so quick it's like you know hes either going to break the hole and go all the away and hit something really hard

Agreed. I love what Percy brings to the table but I think he takes too many unnecessary hits. Perhaps a season spent in rehab will cure him of this. Not playing scared by any means, just throttling back a bit. The guy is fearless and has sought contact big time; maybe because when he was with the Vikes he thought he had to do too much. Lots of help here... I would love to see little more judicious use of that blazing speed so we can keep him around awhile, and just as importantly, so the guy can walk normally for the rest of his life.

I agree. Percy needs a lesson from Wilson. In Russell's first year he was taking way too many hits, in his second year he goes down before even the possibility of contact. I feel that Percy needs to take the same incentive. There is no purpose to him taking hits. Just start sliding, or going to the ground in order to avoid hits. He is a worldly talent, he needs to use his head as much as his legs.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I would like to know who the other 2-4 guys are. Just sayin'.

 

[willyum]

Just start sliding, or going to the ground in order to avoid hits. He is a worldly talent, he needs to use his head as much as his legs.

There is no way Percy starts sliding to the ground to avoid hits like he's a quarterback. There's this thing called Pride, and NFL players have a lot of it. A WR that goes down to avoid hits? unheard of in the NFL, although it would obviously be the smarter thing to do.

What Percy should do is start going out of bounds when he's near the sideline, most times he'll cut it back in to get more yards and take extra hits.
And the way he tries to carry piles like M. Lynch does, although we love to see that, it opens him up to hit after hit.

But ask the most explosive player in the NFL to start going to the ground instead of trying to get more yards, Im willing to bet he says no.

 

[ManBunts]

the only thing that scares me is if he hits a defender at full speed and screws up his hip again. He's so quick it's like you know hes either going to break the hole and go all the away and hit something really hard

Funny, I had the same thought. I keep thinking of the Bo Jackson hip injury. He ran with such speed and power that when he was tackled at the leg, the momentum he had was more the cause of the injury than the severity of the tackle. But that said, Percy has an agility and nimbleness to him that Bo lacked (not bashing Bo, his power was amazing) and, not sure how to say it, but an ability to absorb blows. I'm stoked to see what he can do fully healthy in a season