Vikings adding wrinkles for rookie Harvin
The “Wildcat” is coming to the Twin Cities.
The Florida Gators knew how special of an athlete that Percy Harvin was, and that’s why the Gators invented a spot called the “Percy Position.” That basically meant Harvin, a receiver by trade, would lineup all over the field and often take as many snaps at tailback as he would see passes in a game.
Well, Harvin won’t be getting a ton of carries in the pros because that would be a huge injury risk, but the Vikings are definitely going to use all of his talents. To that end, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said the Minnesota offense features 20 to 30 plays just to get the ball in Harvin’s hands and that half of those are entirely new to the playbook.
“We’re up there trying to diagram everything we can,” Bevell said. “We’re looking at things we do, we’re looking at things other teams have done and trying to get the ball to our playmakers.”
That includes the “Wildcat,” which became en vogue last year in the NFL when the Miami Dolphins found success with it. In some of the Vikings’ s Wildcat formations during recent OTAs, Harvin actually lined up at quarterback. He also lined up as a running back, receiver, taken the direct snap in the Wildcat and is getting reps as both the punt and kickoff returner.
“They just want me to learn multiple positions,” Harvin said. “We don’t know quite where I’m going to play right now. I’m just learning kind of a little bit of everything. I’m just working hard and whatever they need me to play, that’s what I’ll do.”
In addition, using the Wildcat would allow the Vikings to get running back Chester Taylor on the field along with stellar starter Adrian Peterson. Minnesota, by the way, is a 2.5-point favorite against Cleveland on the early Week 1 NFL lines on WagerWeb.com.
The only question about this new offense is how it would be affected if Brett Favre returns? Needless to say, Favre probably can’t split out wide as a receiver, as both Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson can.
And would Favre want to come off the field 10-15 snaps a game?
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