Oh mercy! Where's the Heisman love for Percy?
By Mike Freeman | CBSSports.com National Columnist Follow MikeDodd: Harvin? I'll take Big 12 QBs
Please take a moment and consider this statistic about Percy Harvin, who is the best player in college football, part of the Florida offensive juggernaut:
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| Percy Harvin has scored in each of the last 12 games. (Getty Images) |
Let me repeat that.
Harvin has scored a TD in his past 12 games and many of those games have been against SEC opponents. That's the Southeastern Conference, not the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"First time I watched him in practice I said, 'You've got the best first step I've ever seen,'" Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "If he's not the most dynamic player in college football, then he's one of the top two or three."
Not one of the most dynamic. The most dynamic.
The only player who exceeds Harvin's scoring streak is Michael Crabtree from Texas Tech, who has scored in 13 straight games (22 touchdowns over that span to Harvin's 19).
Crabtree has scored all of his receiving. He also faces horrific Big 12 defenses and their 5-foot-4 cornerbacks. Wide receivers run at will among helpless Big 12 secondaries. The last time this many men went uncovered, America had a population explosion.
Harvin can take a run up the middle and go 80 yards. He can take a pass and go 80 yards. He can take a punt return for a score. He can take a kickoff for a score. He can run The Wildcat. He can sing. He could be Secretary of State. He's a multi-dimensional threat.
Harvin should be leading the Heisman discussion. He isn't, and it's a terrible mistake.
"Heisman" and "Harvin" aren't in the same sentence for three main reasons. First, he's on the same team with Tim Tebow, whose shadow is a mushroom cloud the size of Nebraska. Second, to some, Harvin doesn't touch the football enough. Third, he's in Meyer's offensive system, which inflates numbers drastically.
The first two points are garbage. The last one is not unfair. Meyer's offense is very much smoke and mirrors sometimes (see: Smith, Alex). In the case of Harvin, however, that doesn't negate an important fact. Harvin's the most dangerous player in college football because he's probably the fastest. On the next level Harvin will be a speedier, more-talented Reggie Bush or a quicker Santana Moss.
He's the kind of versatile, formidable weapon that NFL teams dreams of.
Twelve consecutive games with a score by running or receiving. Please, remember that.
Not only should Harvin win the Heisman, he'd also end up being one of the few Heisman winners worth a damn in the pros.
When my idea that Harvin is the best player in the country was put onto the CBSSports.com mail system several days ago, all the big-mouths couldn't wait to chime in with the usual asinine rants against Harvin.
Doyel sent an e-mail saying Harvin isn't even the best player at his position on his own team, which demonstrates once again that Doyel's football knowledge is equivalent to that of a 4-year-old. Pete "I Think I'm A GM" Prisco said Harvin can't run routes. Sure, Pete, sure. Even if that were accurate, here's how you tell Harvin to run your precious little routes: go deep, dude.
Both of you butt out. This is between Dodd -- who knows the sport as well as anybody -- and me, but Dodd is wrong on this one.
This Heisman race is among the weakest in recent years. When Sam Bradford is a Heisman candidate, that tells you about the lameness of the contest. Bradford is eerily similar to former New York Giants draft pick Dave Brown, a quarterback out of Duke.
Texas Tech's Graham Harrell is Heath Shuler.
Harvin is frightening in his ability to break a huge play -- on the ground or in the air -- at any point in a game. That makes him the biggest threat in college football.
That makes him the best player in college football.
