HawkWow":3h69mdx9 said: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.