The Percy Harvin wide receiver project is still in the making and will be the responsibility of the Buffalo Bills this season.
Explaining that he does not want to be considered strictly as a “gadget” player this year, Harvin is hopeful that this season will consist of more than merely running routes.
Head coach Rex Ryan spoke on Friday on Harvin’s desire to try his talents at cornerback. Ryan claims he is open to that thought and explained that Harvin would line up at cornerback “from time to time” this season as an experiment.
Rex said Harvin came to him about lining up at CB here & there. Ryan said he'll line up there from time 2 time & see what he can do. #Bills
— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrownBills) July 31, 2015
Harvin has never really broken out since departing from the Minnesota Vikings in 2012. During his time with the Seattle Seahawks, Harvin was injured most of the 2013 season then traded mid-way through the 2014 season to the New York Jets. During this stretch of time, Harvin posted only one receiving touchdown.
The Bills recently ranked Harvin No. 3 behind receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods. Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News reported recently that Harvin “needed plenty of detailed instruction on how to run routes during the offseason.”
It should be interesting to see if the Bills do experiment with Harvin on the defensive side of things during the preseason. However, if the Bills need improvement from Harvin as far a his route-running goes, it might be better for everybody if he just focused on that for now, rather than risk injury doing something he’s not familiar with.
Harvin has the ability to make some spectacular plays, as demonstrated by his awesome return touchdown scored against the Denver Broncos in the 2014 Super Bowl.
https://vine.co/v/Mz0w2MYD632
While Harvin does display fantastic speed and versatility, successfully changing positions is incredibly rare at the NFL level of competition. We will have to wait and see if cornerback is in Harvin’s calling this fall.
Photo: CBS Sports