Harvin, the Offense, and Ponder

[Dark]

If I was harvin, I don't know if I would want to leave MN. Our team is headed in the right direction and management just has to pick up a couple good players in key positions and we are pretty much set. If harvin does leave us, I would try to develop Wright to do the things that harvin is, because I think Wright has great potential. If we are able to develop Wright do those kind of things, I think we could trade harvin for a big, strong guy who can jump up for a ball and come down with it no matter what. Although, if I was harvin, I wouldn't be afraid to leave us because the second he did, every team in the league would be all over trying to get him .

[CalVike]

The elephant in the room for Percy Harvin is that ridiculous $1.5MM salary for next season. There's been some speculation in some circles that the team is not sure whether to give him the long term deal all NFL players crave because they are worried about the pounding he takes and this season would seem to finally give credence to that line of thinking. Something has to give on his paltry salary.

Jim, much like Detective Joe Friday, you are excellent at advising our message board to stick to "just the facts." But there is room for some speculation on a message board I think. So my recollection of the Harvin trade demand was that it came to light from AP sports reporter John Krasinski, who is very plugged in with the Vikings, on Twitter and not in a news article. That indicates to me that it was a single source. But I still put great credibility on Mr. Krasinski and his single source, much greater than someone like me anonymously posting on a message board for example. The fact that Harvin took to Twitter to say the issue was resolved a couple days later adds further credence to it being real. He seemed to be heavily influenced by Randy Moss and Brett Favre, the two Vikings superstars, other than Adrian Peterson, from recent years, two that have been around the block and seen it all.

And here's where I'll open myself to flames: My gut feeling is Percy Harvin knows there is a lot more out there for him than what the Vikings and their pretty, running-based, but "not-likely-to-ever-win-a-championship" offense. If the Vikings give him a chance, he will run away, not walk. And that is wild speculation that is hopefully dead wrong because he's the best we got, he and AD.

[S197]

I don't put any merit in these rumors. He missed all of what, 1/2 a practice in spring? He was also sprinting up hills with AD and it's pretty obvious he gives 110% on the field. The Vikings would be fools to let Harvin go.

[tmscr]

I don't put any merit in these rumors. He missed all of what, 1/2 a practice in spring? He was also sprinting up hills with AD and it's pretty obvious he gives 110% on the field. The Vikings would be fools to let Harvin go.

the vikings won't have much say whether he stays or goes when his contract is up. put it this way hypothetically, if you were a very talented employee at your place of work but the vast majority of your success depended upon your very mediocre partner, would you stay or want to explore other possibilities that might lead to bigger and better things? you think harvin looks at ponder and says "THAT'S the guy that's going to make me one of the greatest skill players to ever play in this league!"? and more than that, i'm sure he realizes his numbers aren't going to look too pretty when his QB completes 50% of his passes, thus affecting his salary.

[S197]

the vikings won't have much say whether he stays or goes when his contract is up. put it this way hypothetically, if you were a very talented employee at your place of work but the vast majority of your success depended upon your very mediocre partner, would you stay or want to explore other possibilities that might lead to bigger and better things? you think harvin looks at ponder and says "THAT'S the guy that's going to make me one of the greatest skill players to ever play in this league!"? and more than that, i'm sure he realizes his numbers aren't going to look too pretty when his QB completes 50% of his passes, thus affecting his salary.

If they're smart they re-sign him before his contract is up. As in, this offseason. I'm not going to pretend to know what's in Harvin's mind but to your last comment (emphasis added), you do realize he led the NFL in receptions before he went down in week 9 right?

[tmscr]

If they're smart they re-sign him before his contract is up. As in, this offseason. I'm not going to pretend to know what's in Harvin's mind but to your last comment (emphasis added), you do realize he led the NFL in receptions before he went down in week 9 right?

i do indeed realize that, and i'm sure he feels the same way about ponder that most of us do. i bet he realizes that if he can be THAT good with a mediocre QB throwing WR screens, how much more could he do with someone who was able to really exploit his speed and athleticism?

[Mothman]

The elephant in the room for Percy Harvin is that ridiculous $1.5MM salary for next season. There's been some speculation in some circles that the team is not sure whether to give him the long term deal all NFL players crave because they are worried about the pounding he takes and this season would seem to finally give credence to that line of thinking. Something has to give on his paltry salary.

Jim, much like Detective Joe Friday, you are excellent at advising our message board to stick to "just the facts." But there is room for some speculation on a message board I think. So my recollection of the Harvin trade demand was that it came to light from AP sports reporter John Krasinski, who is very plugged in with the Vikings, on Twitter and not in a news article. That indicates to me that it was a single source. But I still put great credibility on Mr. Krasinski and his single source, much greater than someone like me anonymously posting on a message board for example.

You have a good memory! I didn't know Jon Krawczynski initially broke the "Harvin demands trade" story on Twitter but he was the author of the aforementioned AP article anyway so I don't think it matters. He and his "person close to the situation" were basically the sole sources of the story and everyone else picked it up from there. The fact that so many reputable reporters were willing to run with that story speaks to Krawczynski's credibility and I don't doubt that he has good sources with the Vikings.

The point I was trying to make earlier today was that, accurate or not, the story never got much further than the initial rumor. There were no public statements from Harvin, his agent or the Vikings confirming it and it was resolved so quickly that I find it hard to believe Harvin was ultra-serious about it. He seems like a mercurial guy so it wouldn't surprise me if he got worked up or frustrated, asked for a trade and then was quickly able to resolve the issue once he settled down. He seemed fine all summer and most of the season after that.

And here's where I'll open myself to flames: My gut feeling is Percy Harvin knows there is a lot more out there for him than what the Vikings and their pretty, running-based, but "not-likely-to-ever-win-a-championship" offense. If the Vikings give him a chance, he will run away, not walk. And that is wild speculation that is hopefully dead wrong because he's the best we got, he and AD.

I'm sure he'd love to play with a better QB but the Vikings have already shown that they're willing to put the ball in his hands a lot, whether Peterson is on the field or not. I think he just wants to win and that's understandable. Then again, I think the Vikings offensive philosophy could easily end up being a championship-winning approach if they get better QB play and field some good outside receivers to compliment Harvin.

We'll just have to wait and see if Harvin is so unhappy that he wants to play elsewhere. I guess I'm not that concerned about it because he really has only one recourse and that's to stubbornly demand a trade and sit out and frankly, I don't believe he'll do it. The guy loves to play. My guess is he'll remain a Viking and get a nice, fat contract as a reward.

I'm not going to flame you for the speculation because it's just speculation and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. I just hope you're wrong about Hharvin wanting to bolt if he gets the chance.

[Mothman]

If they're smart they re-sign him before his contract is up. As in, this offseason. I'm not going to pretend to know what's in Harvin's mind but to your last comment (emphasis added), you do realize he led the NFL in receptions before he went down in week 9 right?

If I'm not mistaken, he led the NFl in receptions during the latter half of last season as well. Ironically, in terms of production, Ponder's actually been good for Harvin's career.

[sdranger]

First of all your good and your partner is not so you leave your job for greener pastures doesn't work in the NFL. The Vikings can franchise tag him several years in a row if they want. I doubt they would more than once but they can. Second Wright, Welker et al are no Harvin. Harvin can play RB just as well as SR. He is a very unique player. His value is extremely high to any offense.

Will the Vikes shop Harvin? I have no idea, but if they do it will be at draft time.

As for the vanilla offense it works when you have the right pieces. Look at the Niners. Teams in this day of age in the NFL are geared to stop the pass. When you have AD if Ponder was half the QB Smith is and one of our receivers could get open 30% of the time it is of my opnion we would be leading the NFC North and looking at a bye.

[chicagopurple]

Firstly, I am beginning to think that Harvin won't be all that critical in the end because he plays like AP, throwing his scrawny skinny #### into major collisions but he is clearly NOT built to take that kind of punishment. Consequently, he will never make it through an entire season in one piece......has he ever???

Secondly, even IF he stays.....much like AP, it won't make a difference as long as we have a coach and QB who take the "short bus" to work every day.

Thirdly, we need to acquire THREE real, profesional starting Wideouts.....right now we have one really good one. That is way too easy to defeat. Look at Megatron and other teams that try to scheme with one real WR...it won't work. If we hadn't been so stupid as to let Sid Rice go, we would be infinitely better off. Instead we banked on Chicago Bears cast off trash like Berrian, Aromashadoo-doo, etc.

[Cliff]

Thirdly, we need to acquire THREE real, profesional starting Wideouts.....right now we have one really good one. That is way too easy to defeat. Look at Megatron and other teams that try to scheme with one real WR...it won't work. If we hadn't been so stupid as to let Sid Rice go, we would be infinitely better off. Instead we banked on Chicago Bears cast off trash like Berrian, Aromashadoo-doo, etc.

It's really a shame they couldn't hang onto Rice ... then we could have two really talented WRs on the bench

[Mothman]

It's really a shame they couldn't hang onto Rice ... then we could have two really talented WRs on the bench

LOL!

I think a lot of the backlash against the coaching is a little much. Not that they are above criticism or anything but they shouldn't be expected to weave straw into gold. There are clearly talent/personnel issues on offense. If the QB isn't good, most of the wideouts are average to sub-average, there's not a great deep threat and the o-line struggles in pass protection, that should make the reliance on running and high percentage passes pretty easy to understand. If the offense seems "vanilla" to some, it seems likely that it's due to an effort by the coaching staff to play to the strengths of personnel with serious limitations, not necessarily due to a lack of imagination.

That doesn't mean the coaches are above criticism. they make some questionable choices too.

[Purple bruise]

Firstly, I am beginning to think that Harvin won't be all that critical in the end because he plays like AP, throwing his scrawny skinny #### into major collisions but he is clearly NOT built to take that kind of punishment. Consequently, he will never make it through an entire season in one piece......has he ever???

Secondly, even IF he stays.....much like AP, it won't make a difference as long as we have a coach and QB who take the "short bus" to work every day.

Thirdly, we need to acquire THREE real, profesional starting Wideouts.....right now we have one really good one. That is way too easy to defeat. Look at Megatron and other teams that try to scheme with one real WR...it won't work. If we hadn't been so stupid as to let Sid Rice go, we would be infinitely better off. Instead we banked on Chicago Bears cast off trash like Berrian, Aromashadoo-doo, etc.

Dude wtf Percy Harvin are you talking about that is "scrawny skinny#######" http://overtimeathletes.com/2011/07/per ... out-freak/

[Purple bruise]

Dude wtf Percy Harvin are you talking about that is "scrawny skinny#######" http://overtimeathletes.com/2011/07/per ... out-freak/

Prior to tearing a ligament that ended his season this year he has missed only THREE regular season games in his entire career.

[S197]

First of all your good and your partner is not so you leave your job for greener pastures doesn't work in the NFL. The Vikings can franchise tag him several years in a row if they want.

This is no longer an option. Under the new CBA a player can only be tagged once in his career.