Jettisoned
Percy Harvin has been traded to the New York Jets. Let me start off by saying…WOW! It’s not often we see deals done mid-season, especially involving the most talented wide receiver on a team. Alas, Seattle proved they didn’t need Harvin to win the Super Bowl last year, and after drafting Paul Richardson in this year’s draft, perhaps the writing was on the wall, though none of us could see it. The Seahawks invested heavily in Harvin via their trade with Minnesota, giving up first, third and seventh rounds picks along with guaranteeing him $22.5 million. What’d the Seahawks get out of that investment? Six games. In those six games, Percy gathered 305 combined rushing and receiving yards. Debatably, Harvin was more potent in the return game as he acquired 370 yards in the same time span. To put those numbers in perspective, Rashad Jennings has 505 rushing and receiving yards in five games, this season. There’s no more reason to pound the “what a terrible trade” narrative any longer, so let’s discuss what this means, in fantasy terms for the Seahawks and the Jets going forward.
The New York Jets are off to a horrendous start, having lost their last six games. When healthy, Eric Decker is fully capable of holding down the WR1 label on his team, but unfortunately, his hamstring has been an issue for a few weeks now. He has played through it, but Decker has a few things going against him this season. First off, Geno Smith hasn’t been good enough to help elevate Decker’s stat line on a weekly basis. Also, Decker is getting the double coverage treatment often, given his opposite receiver is the mediocre Jeremy Kerley and Decker has yet to break 75 yards this season. What does it seem the Jets offense needs? Another quality receiving threat to help Smith and to take some coverage away from Decker.
Enter Percy Harvin.
Now, this has the potential to be a catastrophic move by New York if Harvin, is in fact, a true headache for his quarterback. It was speculated that Harvin was traded from Minnesota because he was very high maintenance. This off-season, rumors were leaked about how Harvin was pressuring Russell Wilson to get him the ball. The last thing the Jets need is a wide receiver to be in Geno Smith’s head on Sundays, but let’s assume the positives will overcome any negatives in this deal.
[inlinead]Percy Harvin has game-changing ability, and with the lethargic Jets offense having no direction, seemingly, they could use a shot in the arm. Dynasty owners of Harvin already know you cannot bank on him remaining healthy, but when he is starting, you have the potential to catch lightning in a bottle, especially in leagues that reward return yards. He is an immediate upgrade over every other Jets receiver not named Decker and could guide Geno Smith to slightly better stats over the coming weeks. Learning the playbook will be tricky in such a short amount of time, but that’s more reason to believe New York will try to get Harvin the ball any way possible. As was eluded to earlier, defenses have to game plan for Percy. They can no longer simply double Decker (no pun intended) if Harvin is on the field. If you can’t tell, I think the biggest winner for the Jets, in this deal, is Decker himself. I love this move in terms of how it will hopefully allow him to use his size as a mismatch on cornerbacks more often. If you already own Harvin, I’d put him on the block, just to see what you may be able to acquire in return, but don’t sell low on him. I also believe the biggest loser in this move is Chris Johnson. He was already struggling and now the Jets are bringing in a versatile player who can do everything Johnson was doing, only better. Albeit, Johnson can actually stay healthy, unlike Harvin.
The fantasy implications of this move are interesting for the Seahawks. It almost feels like they got rid of a player who wasn’t even on the team. Last week, he had some bad luck as three of his touchdowns were called back due to penalties, but on his six other touches, he didn’t gain positive yardage. The lone bright spot was his 142 return yards, but in most leagues, those don’t count towards anything, so his owners were left weeping in the shower. Honestly, that’s nothing new to Percy Harvin owners. The positive aspect of this whole deal for Seattle is now their young receiving corps has a chance to see an increase in snaps. Jermaine Kearse was one of my top sleepers for the 2014 season and while he has underperformed in fantasy lineups, he has played 85% of the team’s snaps. The only wide receiver who has played more snaps than Kearse is Doug Baldwin (88%). Both of those receivers have under 200 receiving yards and only Kearse has a touchdown. We all knew Seattle’s passing game was a tricky one to approach in fantasy football, given how they typically rely on the running attack. Unfortunately, murky waters still surround the ability to find a quality starting receiver in Seattle. Paul Richardson only has 38 snaps this year, but with this move, expect that number to rise quickly. Percy Harvin was on the field for 181 offensive snaps, so the door is wide open for a young player like Richardson to step in. Here’s an intriguing stat, courtesy of ESPN – Russell Wilson’s quarterback rating was 45.3% when Harvin was on the field, but 71% when he wasn’t. Ironically, perhaps the only Seattle player we’ll see a bump in positive production from is Wilson.
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