On to the Goal

Long before Percy Harvin was even eligible to leave Florida for the bright lights of the NFL, the speculation had already begun as to who would replace him — who would be his successor at the “Percy Position”?

I suppose that’s a natural question, at least to the extent that Florida must put 11 men on the field and one of them is certain to be an excellent athlete capable of playing multiple positions. But the nomenclature is completely wrong here. In all likelihood, no one will ever again play the “Percy Position,” simply because no one else is Percy.

This is not as easy as it looks...

To be fair, most who have written on the topic have acknowledged that fact, if only briefly. The issue is also partially the creation of the Florida coaching staff. They designed the schemes to utilize Harvin and they’re recruiting kids who want to be just like him. The Florida offense gets the ball to its playmakers. Versatile athletes, it seems, want to have the ball in their hands as often as possible. Go figure.

But the mere insinuation that just anyone — even a five-star thoroughbred — can be utilized like Harvin and do the same things he did belies just how good he really was. It’s akin to saying that Florida is looking for someone who can play the “Tebow Position” as if 240-pound quarterbacks who can bulldoze defensive tackles on option keepers and complete passes at a 65-percent clip are somehow in ready supply. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while and was in the process of putting some numbers together yesterday afternoon when Chris Low of ESPN.com and Doc Saturday beat me to the punch. To be honest, I’m kind of glad they did because their insights pay appropriate respect to Harvin’s greatness.

Low:

“The truth is that there aren’t many of those guys on the planet, guys tough enough to take the pounding at running back in the SEC and fast enough and skilled enough to run pass routes.”

Dr. Saturday:

“I remember thinking and then writing (sorry — archives are down at the old site) when I saw Harvin torch Arkansas on that counter in the ‘06 SEC Championship, ‘Nobody else can do that.’ His acceleration, the ability to change direction out of the motion and be full-speed the other way in a blink, made that counter an almost singular play, and Harvin’s ability to run it — in addition to all the usual, around-the-end type of runs motion usually implies — could virtually incapacitate a defense.”

“There aren’t many guys like that on the planet … Nobody else can do that.” Those are the superlatives that we use when talking about Percy Harvin. But for some reason, he doesn’t get his due, even from many Gator fans. Perhaps that’s a natural outcome for a player whose career spanned two national championships and coincided with the tenure of potentially the greatest college football player ever (again, potentially, and that’s another discussion to be had nine months from now).

Those who were fortunate enough to have seen Harvin play when he was healthy (and even some who saw him when he wasn’t) know just how explosive he can be. When put into historical context, however, he looks even more impressive. Harvin is in the conversation of the most dynamic players of the entire decade. Strong cases can be made for Vince Young and Michael Vick (whose last season was 2000), but I would argue that quarterbacks should be included in a separate category (a category in which both would be among the all-time greats). DeSean Jackson and Ted Ginn had their moments but lacked in consistency. Darren Sproles was a dynamite runner but not nearly the same pass-catching threat. In fact, I believe the competition is really a two-man race between Harvin and — before you react, hear me out — Reggie Bush. Let’s get right to the numbers:

* Note: Chart does not include kick or punt returns

In short, Percy Harvin averaged more yards per touch than Bush and was more likely to break a play of 20 yards or longer. Of course, those numbers are a bit skewed. More than 82 percent of Bush’s touches (433) were runs, whereas Harvin carried the ball just 59 percent of the time (194). But Harvin averaged more yards per carry than Bush (9.5 to 7.3) and was again more likely to break a big run, which he did 11.3 percent of the time to Bush’s 8.7 percent. Some of that can be explained by how each man was utilized — Harvin as a wideout on the receiving end of many an option pitch, Bush as a tailback smashing into the pile on isolation runs. But in reality, many of Harvin’s rushing yards came on tough, between-the-tackles runs in which he broke a tackle or made an ankle-shattering cut to burst into space. In other words, Harvin’s edge in the “yards per” and “big play” categories can’t all be attributed to “spread vs. pro style.” Here’s a more complete breakdown:

* Note: Chart does not include kick or punt returns

When viewed in context, those numbers give the edge to Bush. Though he lined up all over the field at times, his primary responsibility was as a traditional running back. That makes his stats even more impressive — particularly his garish pass-catching totals (13.7 ypc!!!) [/PhilSteele]. When you add in his contributions as a kick and punt returner, there’s no question that he was the superior overall college playmaker.

But it’s close. Certainly much closer than most people probably realize. And that alone should illustrate why the “Percy Position” probably needs a new name. As Dr. Saturday pointed out, we pretty much know that no matter how good Jeff Demps and Brandon James are as runners, they will likely never be close to the deep threat that Harvin was. Maybe Debose is, but all we have to go on right now are recruiting accolades and grainy videos of him blowing past lesser mortals on poorly lit high school fields. In his case, time will tell.

For now, Harvin stands apart as a rare talent — arguably the second-best of the decade and (more arguably) the second-best playmaker since Barry Sanders. With Tebow at the helm and a bevy of talented receivers and shifty quarkbacks around him, the Florida offense will be a juggernaut that may yet roll up even more points than its Harvin-having predecessors. But it will be missing a dimension — it just won’t have anybody to play that damn Percy Position.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 11:20 am and is filed under Percy, X'in and O'in. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.