HARVIN CREATES GREAT PROBLEMS FOR SEAHAWKS TO HAVE

Percy Harvin Evading The 49ers In This Futuristic Image.

 The Seattle Seahawks, once again, made a lot of analysts and Seahawks fans alike scratch their heads in disbelief, wondering; "What could possibly be GM John Schneider and HC Pete Carroll's strategy for the 2013 NFL draft?"  Going in to the draft, the Seahawks wanted to improve at various positions, not truly needing any particular player or position.  It was widely believed that the Seahawks would be looking for depth and improvement at; weak side linebacker, deep threat wide receiver and run stuffing defensive tackle.  So, what did Carroll and Schneider do?  Well, first of all they began the draft process by trading away their first round selection (and some change) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for pro-bowl, All-Pro wide receiver, Percy Harvin.  Initially, fans and analysts thought the price for Harvin was much too steep.  This was until they began to see that this 2013 draft class didn't feature a single player considered to be a "playmaking", "sure thing", or "game changer" in any of the draft's seven rounds.  The Seahawks were positioned at the 25 spot in the first round, and Carroll and Schneider knew that there was no equal value in the entire draft to Percy Harvin.  Ever since he exploded onto the football scene at his hometown Virginia high school, Percy has been a highly sought after athlete. The Seattle Seahawks are fortunate enough to have a visionary, dealmaking GM and an innovative HC to recognize Harvin's skill set and how he could become even more dominant in a Seahawks uniform than anywhere he has previously played.  Pete Carroll is the second oldest active head coach in the NFL, but has continued to have success largely because of his willingness to evolve along with the ever-changing NFL game.  Previous coaching greats such as; Tom Landry, Chuck Knox, Don Shula and Bud Grant thrived during eras that fit their coaching styles.  However, when the game began to pass them by, these great leaders didn't adjust to the style of football that continues to evolve evolve with each passing season.

So, why exactly do Pete Carroll and John Schneider feel that Percy Harvin is an ideal fit for the Seahawks, so much so that they sacrificed three valuable draft selections including a number one?

It's a fair question, but I think I can give a more than fair answer for why the duo of Carroll and  Schneider risked losing, in particular a number one draft choice, and some change for one single player.  It can be explained in two words: “Awesome and Versatile”.

Percy Harvin isn’t simply a great wide receiver, he's really a freak in cleats.  While it is true that he is a gifted pass receiver, to pigeonhole him into one position would be a miscarriage of football justice.  Harvin is one of the most unique and multifaceted football players in the NFL today.  He was the most highly sought prep football player in the nation, coming out of his hometown, Chesapeake Virginia.  Harvin caught the eye of every legitimate college football scout in the English-speaking world with his freakish athleticism, his unyielding drive to excel and undying dedication to the sport of football.  He had a spectacular career at the University of Florida as a blue-chip freshman wideout playing both running back and wide receiver, being the only Florida player to run for 100 yards and catch passes also for 100 yards in a single game.  He even played some situational football at the quarterback position for his coach, Urban Meyer at Florida, now the head coach of the Ohio  Buckeyes.  Harvin announced he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft.  He was a first-round draft choice by the Minnesota Vikings in 2009, and went on to be awarded the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honor.

Seahawks offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, has been with Pete throughout the three year Carroll regime in Seattle.  Bevell was also the OC for the Vikings in 2009 while Harvin played his first year in Minnesota.  So, it’s suffice to say that the decision to trade for Harvin was largely influenced by the fact that Bevell knew how to use Harvin’s talents and how the multi talented player would fit in to the Seahawks offensive scheme.  It was also of major consideration on how Harvin would fit with the Seahawks starting quarterback, Russell Wilson. Wilson has shown a propensity to utilize multiple position pass catchers checking down as many as four receivers on a single play before delivery a past or pulling down the ball and running. Wilson will certainly need to utilize all of his senses of field awareness with the Seahawks current offensive weaponry, especially with the addition of Percy Harvin. There will be offensive sets were; Marshawn Lynch, Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin and Percy Harvin will all be on the field simultaneously.  This will create an ultra-competitive environment, not only in practice, but in games where receivers will have to work extra hard to get open and give Russell Wilson a big open target to throw to on each passing down.  I didn't even mention tight ends; Zach Miller, Luke Willson and wideout; Chris Harper.  Also fighting for the sixth wide receiver spot are;, Steven Williams, Brett Swain, Jermaine Kearse, Charly Martin, Phil Bates and super speedy local rookie, Justin Veltung, who will undoubtedly receive a lot of support from Seattle fans.  Wilson's biggest problem is going to be figuring out how to distribute the ball to the many weapons he will have with him on the field at all times.

Harvin is most known for his countless position skills and is believed to be the most effective  versatile players in the game.  He is listed as a wide receiver, his usual position to line up in, however it would be a mistake for a defender to assume that Harvin is simply a pass catching receiver.  This is one of the huge reasons that the Seattle Seahawks were willing to give up such a large combination of trade particulars to get Harvin on the Seahawks roster before he re-signed with the Vikings or anyone else snatched him up.

As I mentioned, Percy Harvin played slot and wide receiver positions, but he alsothe played flanker, halfback and even quarterback for the Florida Gators. He was also their primary punt and kick returner, imposing his sprinter’s speed and elusive running style to evade tacklers in open field.  Watching him on high school highlight films in Virginia and college reels at Florida, Harvin looked like a man running among boys.  He was simply running in a faster gear than everyone else on the football field, and add-in his shifty, elusiveness and he is a scary player to try and stop from taking the ball to the house every time he touches the ball.

Harvin took his “Human Highlight Film” skills to Minnesota and continued ripping up large chunks of football field real estate while opposing players watched him whiz by, leaving nothing but a breeze for them to remember him by.  No doubt, the Seahawks were impressed watching him make fools of some of the best open field tacklers in football.  The Seahawks had a very capable kick returner in Leon Washington, but Washington did possess skills even close to Percy Harvin or the pure versatility to cause problems for defensive coordinators every time he walked on the field.  Washington was a great teammate in the locker room, and a great kick returner to help Seattle start their offensive possessions in very good field position.  He’ll be messed as a teammate, but Harvin more than makes up for the loss, plus Harvin has soft hands and is brutally difficult to bring down after the catch.

Darrell Bevell was speaking at a press conference shortly after the NFL draft and began to elaborate on the plans he and Carroll had for Percy Harvin once he was on the field with the Seahawks this year.  The word “Nightmare” keeps coming up in discussion topics regarding Harvin.  He simply creates a nightmare for defensive coordinators, and opposing defensive personnel every time he touches the ball or simply walks onto the field.  Because he can line up at the X, or the Y receiver positions is not certain until the ball is snapped whether he’s going to be covered by a corner, safety or linebacker.  The Seahawks often run an empty backfield, giving the defense an opportunity to substitute extra corners or safeties that operate in the nickel or dime defensive sets.  In this scenario, Harvin could go in motion from the split end or the slot and line up in the backfield as a halfback or in the pistol, with the quarterback in the shotgun formation.  Obviously, with a speedy and physical running back on the field, it’s a disadvantage for the defense to have too many defensive backs and not enough defensive lineman or linebackers.  Running the ball right up the gut would create problems and much smaller defensive backs would have to come in tight, were linebacker would normally play.  Just the reverse, Harvin could line up as a halfback in the (11 or 12 personnel) causing the DC to substitute an extra linebacker or defensive end to stuff a possible rushing play.  Harvin could then motion to the Pro or nasty position and gain a mismatch with a much bigger, slower linebacker or even a defensive end forced to drop into space.  This would be a perfect scenario for Russell Wilson to make lineup changes just before the snap.  This kind of offensive weaponry requires a bright quarterback to recognize opposing substitutions and defensive sets immediately.  The QB must also be able to recognize whether or not there are mismatches to be exploited… and it must be done on-the-fly.  Russell Wilson is precisely the type of QB to run an offense with this type of systematic play calling.  Usually, a player substitution is necessary to convert a passing play to a run, or vice versa.  This is where Percy Harvin gives his team a gigantic advantage schematically.  Harvin can equally transition from receiver to rushing back without the coaching staff having to make unnecessary substitutions.  He could go in motion from tailback to the slot and back again, making it nearly impossible for defensive coordinators and the “on field play caller” (usually the “Mike” LB) to set up a specific defensive package to fit the offensive formation.  

The New England Patriots like to use “Hurry-Up” and “No-Huddle” schemes to take advantage of opposing defenses trying to substitute the right position players before the ball is snapped.  It’s important for me to clarify the difference between a “Hurry-Up” and “No-Huddle” offense.  A “Hurry-Up” offense requires the quarterback and position players to memorize a predetermined sequence of; formations, plays, cadence and snap count, without huddling up.  The “Hurry-Up” may also include offensive substitutions.  On the other hand, a “No-Huddle” offense includes no substitutions, simply forming at the line of scrimmage before the opposing defense can use any substitutions.  The two-minute offense is a prime example of a “Hurry-Up” scheme, designed to utilize clock time and limit opposing defenses from schematically substituting players to stop a specific an obvious sequence of plays to score.

Once again, to emphasize Percy Harvin’s value to the Seahawks 2013 roster, the man is just flat out, no argument, the most versatile, dangerous man in the NFL with the football in his hands.  There is no team in the National Football League that can match up against him if there is even the smallest amount of talent on their offensive roster.  The Seahawks have the most dangerous sets of offensive weaponry in football.  If a defense focuses on Russell Wilson, they will have to cope with Beast Mode running over them.  If Beast Mode is stopped, Russell Wilson will simply pick them apart using Harvin, Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Zach Miller, or rookies; WR Chris Harper and TE Luke Willson.  This is hard to fathom, but if all of those awesome weapons are covered, then the 4.4 speed QB Wilson will tuck the ball and rip off as much yardage and they will give him.  There is simply no direction that the defense can ignore without opening up all sorts of dangerous weapons from the Seahawks all over the field.  The Seahawks should be considering a new sponsor for the currently named “CenturyLink Field” to “Excedrin Field” because anyone foolish enough to enter the Seahawks gridiron will be suffering the worst kind of headache known to mankind.  “Excedrin Field” will be the perfect storm for headache sufferers from faraway places.  Bring your earplugs to the Pacific Northwest if you value your sense of hearing in the future.  Percy Harvin is going to bring Seattle Seahawks fans to their feet… and they will be leaving hoarse and exhilarated.  Go Hawks!

***