Harvin - #1 slot receiver in the NFL

[FlyingGreg]

Oh, I already love having Harvin, and I will 10x as much after watching him this season. I'm not arguing against YAC, I'm just saying it's not something one should base an offense around. I'll take a guy that averages terrible YAC but has great hands than someone with great YAC and average hands.

That's the great thing about Harvin - elite YAC AND great hands. And the potential for play breakdowns with Russell Wilsom scrambling and him breaking open is tantalizing.

Excited to see how he fits in with Sid, Golden and Doug.

 

[themunn]

Harvin averaged 10.9 Yards Per Catch in 2012. 8.9 of that 10.9 ypc average was YAC. Harvin was in the most simplest of explanations was nothing short of amazing.

It means he averaged catching the ball 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage - ie. dump-offs. MRob averaged 9.7 yards of which 9.2 were YAC last year.

Tate averaged 6.1 YAC from 15.3 YAC, which means he averaged catching the ball 8.2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

That's the stat I want to see, because receiving the ball that close to the LoS means dealing with linebackers and thus you're more likely to get injured (which Harvin does, a lot), whereas receiving the ball where Tate does means he's going up against corners and safeties, and since he doesn't have to face Kam, that's a matchup I prefer to see my receivers in.

 

[sutz]

Harvin averaged 10.9 Yards Per Catch in 2012. 8.9 of that 10.9 ypc average was YAC. Harvin was in the most simplest of explanations was nothing short of amazing.

It means he averaged catching the ball 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage - ie. dump-offs. MRob averaged 9.7 yards of which 9.2 were YAC last year.

Tate averaged 6.1 YAC from 15.3 YAC, which means he averaged catching the ball 8.2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

That's the stat I want to see, because receiving the ball that close to the LoS means dealing with linebackers and thus you're more likely to get injured (which Harvin does, a lot), whereas receiving the ball where Tate does means he's going up against corners and safeties, and since he doesn't have to face Kam, that's a matchup I prefer to see my receivers in.

Not necessarily dump-offs. That would include screens and flares, etc. As I understand it, Harvin spent a lot of time playing from the backfield last year. I'd expect more of that. We may only have 4 RB/FB this season, with Harvin getting a lot of looks from back there. A guy with his talent for avoiding tackles is a guy that could take a WR screen to the house.

 

[Johnny]

Best Slot WR in the game has to go the Wes Welker, you can't deny what he has done over the past 6 years..


The question here would have to be - "Can Harvin become one of the best Slot guys in the league with Wilson as his QB?"... and my answer would have to be, Yes he can.

 

[themunn]

Harvin averaged 10.9 Yards Per Catch in 2012. 8.9 of that 10.9 ypc average was YAC. Harvin was in the most simplest of explanations was nothing short of amazing.

It means he averaged catching the ball 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage - ie. dump-offs. MRob averaged 9.7 yards of which 9.2 were YAC last year.

Tate averaged 6.1 YAC from 15.3 YAC, which means he averaged catching the ball 8.2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

That's the stat I want to see, because receiving the ball that close to the LoS means dealing with linebackers and thus you're more likely to get injured (which Harvin does, a lot), whereas receiving the ball where Tate does means he's going up against corners and safeties, and since he doesn't have to face Kam, that's a matchup I prefer to see my receivers in.

Not necessarily dump-offs. That would include screens and flares, etc. As I understand it, Harvin spent a lot of time playing from the backfield last year. I'd expect more of that. We may only have 4 RB/FB this season, with Harvin getting a lot of looks from back there. A guy with his talent for avoiding tackles is a guy that could take a WR screen to the house.

That's of course true, when I said dump-offs I meant any type of pass like that - in fact, really I guess my use of the phrase "dump-off" is unfair since Ponder probably doesn't have the ability to pick out the blitz particularly well.
But while what he has done is nothing short of excellent (the comparison with MRob obviously isn't fair as he's the least defended offensive player on our team whereas Harvin would have been number 1/2 alongside AP), it's not necessarily true that he's an excellent slot receiver.
If anything he's more like Reggie Bush (but better obviously) with the roles slightly reversed in that Bush is more RB than receiver and Harvin more receiver than RB

 

[SalishHawkFan]

I don't think we can look at his YAC to form realistic expectations of what kind of year he's going to have because of the dump off passes he took all year. I'd like to see what his YAC was on catches he made 6-8 yds deep. Or what is his YAC if you take out all the dump off passes he caught all year?

I think it will be his addition to how we run the read option that will have the most impact on our offense. I'd like to see how they execute that. The season can't get here soon enough!

 

[brimsalabim]

Not to quibble because I think Harvin will do very well here but to say he put up his previous stats with no supporting cast is less than accurate. Defenses had to account for the best running ack in the league and quite frankly one of the best in history.

 

[RichNhansom]

Not to quibble because I think Harvin will do very well here but to say he put up his previous stats with no supporting cast is less than accurate. Defenses had to account for the best running ack in the league and quite frankly one of the best in history.

And here they'll have to do the same and also account for a much better receiving core and QB.

The Vikings had 2 threats and we have them all over the field. It brings a true definition to pick your poison and in our case it doesn't matter what poison you pick because they are all lethal.