(lack of) Speed kills

UT's first possession as I recall?

 

It is important to recognize that while we may sometimes want our players to be better, they're all human and trying the best they can. Dean has played a lot of football for us and given a lot and like you said if he can do that on the bench press, he is clearly maximizing whatever god gave him.

 

I’m not aware of his 40 time but he was very strong for his size and arm tackles didn’t get the job done. He may have been fast but there are a lot of fast guys. I think what separated him from others was his strength combined with his ability to make crazy cuts while not losing speed and even looking like he was accelerating through the cuts.

 

For all the criticism he took, I never thought he dogged it. He was physical and stuck his nose in there. I actually liked him best his freshman year getting up to the line in press coverage. Using his physicality masked his lack of speed.

 

Combine results for Percy's 40: 4.41

Percy Harvin Draft and Combine Prospect Profile | NFL.com

 

Damn that’s fast. Well he did look fast lol.

 

Percy combined speed and strength. He was a freak player who combined the hands and speed of a receiver with a body of a running back. Defenses had a difficult time covering him because there were no defenders that matched up with him. You either covered him with a fast DB who lacked the size and strength to tackle him or you covered him with a LBer who lacked the speed to tackle him. He also had a little bit of Barry Sanders in him because there were times his redirection would break ankles.

 

The only time I can remember somebody catching Percy from behind was on that long run from a handoff backed up against our goal line (1st play I think after our 4 down goal line stand) in the 09 Champ game vs OK. He was battling injuries in that game and he had to make a stutter move to not go out of bounds, so even that deserves an asterisk.

 

There are some guys that seem to find that extra gear to shift into when there is a demand for it. Percy was one of those guys.

 

As has been stated above, Percy was fast but what made him a freak of nature was his balance and acceleration. The man has built in Inertial Dampeners. He could stop on a dime in front of a defender, change direction completely, and be at full speed again all within a microsecond while the defender looks at the handful of air he grabbed. Unreal.

 

Do you work for LG and benefit from the replacement TV's I need after all the blown coverage and missed tackles from Dean? Lucky is not the word I have for him.

 

He was full speed on his third step

 

Meh