Be nice to see Artavis used this way.

Sep 10, 2014, 8:59 AM

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/09/10/percy-harvin-seattle-seahawks/

Seahawks wideout Percy Harvin will be one of the most valuable players in the NFL this season. The revolution we expected the ex-Viking to bring to Seattle is finally here. A key facet of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s brilliant game plan against the Packers last Thursday was using Harvin on jet sweeps, which usually derived with him being the inside slot on a three-receiver side and then attacking the weak side of the field.

Harvin showed jet-sweep action on seven of his 39 snaps, carrying the ball three times for 13, 9 and 16 yards. In the fourth quarter his jet sweep served as a decoy on both Marshawn Lynch’s 14-yard screen and a six-yard run that helped ice the game.

Harvin won’t actually win the MVP award, because, well, no wide receiver ever has (not even Jerry Rice). More pointedly, Harvin won’t get enough touches to produce MVP numbers. The Seahawks use a wide breadth of substitution patterns. Against Green Bay, those patterns had Harvin going to the bench after any play that had him touching the ball. Don’t be surprised if this remains the case throughout the season; it’s a great way to keep the 5’ 11”, 185-pounder healthy and fresh. But when Harvin is on the field, his jet sweep (and similar motion concepts) will be what defenses fear most.

Harvin, of course, is not the NFL’s only laterally explosive receiver. There’s also Minnesota’s Cordarrelle Patterson, Green Bay’s Randall Cobb, St. Louis’s Tavon Austin and Tennessee’s Dexter McCluster. (There are also several running backs who can also play receiver, such as Detroit’s Reggie Bush, New England’s Shane Vereen and Philadelphia’s Darren Sproles.) But aside from McCluster being paired with Jake Locker, Harvin is the only one who plays with a truly mobile quarterback. And Bevell has built jet sweeps into Seattle’s existing read-option package, adding a third threat to a scenario that already had defenses dealing with Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch. The Packers had severe problems defending this.

Jet sweeps aren’t the only way Seattle will feature Harvin. They’ll throw him swing passes and also bring him out of the backfield. And when Harvin does simply line up and run a standard route, there’s a good chance he’ll do so against an overmatched defender. On his first catch in Week 1, he was in a “tight split,” aligned close to the offensive line. With the Packers in zone coverage, this left him facing linebacker Brad Jones, which is a laughable matchup that Jones will only ever win if Harvin slips and falls. He went for 33 yards. On Harvin’s second catch (a nine-yarder) he was aligned in the weak-side slot in a 3 x 2 empty set, which meant safety Morgan Burnett had to guard him. Linebackers and safeties can’t cover one of the quickest and most explosive receivers in football. The more matchups like this the Seahawks create for Harvin, the more havoc he’ll wreak.

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Be nice to see Artavis used this way.

Re: Be nice to see Artavis used this way.

Lets just substitute Hopper for Humphries,,,***

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