After all the drama, Brett Favre is now officially a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Now I’m sick of all the Favre back and forth, but Vikings fans should be happy with the upgrade at the quarterback position. There’s no doubt that Favre will make the Vikings WRs better. He might throw a lot of interceptions, but he can make stronger throws and lead the team better than Sage or Tavaris Jackson.

Percy Harvin will benefit directly by having Brett Favre on the team. Not only does he have a better passer throwing him the ball, but now Percy has one of the game’s legends in the locker room. Favre made the Jets run game and passing game much better than the prior season, I think it’s safe to assume he’ll do that same in Minnesota.

If you’re a fantasy player I’d move Percy Harvin up a few slots in the rankings. He is a burner with great hands. I can see him catching 40-50 balls for 750 yards, rushing the ball another 30-40 times for 200 yards and scoring 5-6 touchdowns.

I have read nothing but great reports coming out of Minnesota Vikings training camp about first round pick Percy Harvin. He is showing breakaway speed, quick routes and great moves to free himself from the cornerbacks. He’s a quick learner and adapting the to NFL game better than Childress had expected.

The Vikings will break camp after two practices on Aug. 12. They play their first preseason game on Friday August 14 against Indianapolis. You can be sure than Percy Harvin will see several touches in the game.

Here’s a quick clip of him running a route in camp.

Well that holdout didn’t last long. After missing only two days of training camp, Percy Harvin signed a five-year rookie contract and made it to Minnesota in time for Sunday’s camp. “I don’t think anybody was more anxious to get on the field than me today,” Harvin said.

“It’s a dream come true,” Harvin said after his first official practice. “For me, there was a lot of bumps that prevented myself from getting to this point. It seemed to be a little farther than it actually was. But to actually get here, everything’s behind me. I can kind of start over here. I’m just glad to be here and thankful and ready to hit the ground running.”

I can’t wait to see what the Vikings do with Percy in camp and in the preseason games. I’m sure they won’t show too much, leaving opposing defenses surprised when they see him on the field. But that doesn’t mean he won’t get worked hard. “We’re going to challenge him,” Childress said. “It’s not like we’re going to spoon feed him.”

What will PErcy’s role be on the Vikings? “Return man. Slot. A little bit in the backfield,” Harvin said. “The motions. The screens. I’m looking to be all over.”

Only four first-round picks had signed as of Tuesday night… <a href=”http://www.harvinzone.com” title=”percy harvin”>Percy Harvin</a> is not one of them. With the Minnesota Vikings rookies reporting to camp yesterday, that officially makes Percy a holdout. It’s not uncommon for rookie contracts to take longer to draft. They all want more money then the previous year’s player in their slot and all the teams don’t want to pay it.

I wouldn’t be too worried right now, I mean the veterans won’t report until July 31. If Percy starts missing a lot of camp and a few preseason games, then I’d start to get worried. There’s no doubt the Vikings have a lot of special plays designed for Percy and need him on the practice field to get things going. If he misses a significant amount of time, it could hinder his ability to contribute early on.

P.S. No Brett Favre

Well aren’t we all?

Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress is completely and utterly impressed with Percy Harvin’s playmaking ability. “I think the first thing I thought about was really the same feelings the first time we handed Adrian Peterson the ball,” Childress said. “When you see it with your own eyes … the thing that came to mind right away was, ‘Wow.’”

This is something we’ve known about for years on Harvin Zone. Throughout his entire life, Percy has been touted as the most most versatile playmaker any time he steps foot on the field. Even with Adrian Peterson on his team, that title could carry on to the NFL. The Vikings just need to make sure he gets the touches.

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Chuck Foreman is excited about the upcoming season and the prospect of having Percy Harvin on the field. “I think we got the best receiver in college football in Percy Harvin, I firmly believe that,” Foreman said. “I think the Vikings have potential to do some great things during the football season.”

The Vikings have already put together a dozen or more plays specifically designed for Percy Harvin. You can bet that they disected every play from his Florida Gator days and built a playbook that will surprise and baffle the opposing defenses.

Imagine watching a Minnesota Vikings game this year and hearing the announcer say “Favre drops back… he’s got time… Percy Harvin makes an amazing catch and is running down the sideline … to the 10 to the 5 … TOUCHDOWN!”

It might seem crazy right now, but it could be a reality. Brett Favre was released by the Jets and has been debating back and forth about whether or not to come out of retirement to play for the Vikings. Would this be a good thing though? Favre does have a better arm than Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels, but is bringing in a 40 year old QB the right thing to do?

With Favre at quarterback, Percy Harvin will get a lot more looks since Brett seems to just gunsling it no matter what. He’s no necessarily going to check it down all the time.

What do you think? Do you want Favre throwing Percy the ball?

The Minnesota Vikings got a small scare last week when their No. 1 draft pick Percy Harvin didn’t show up to their practice facility. Turns out he was found vomiting in an Atlanta airport restroom and was rushed to an area hospital due to severe dehydration.

Coach Brad Childress says Harvin became ill Thursday on a flight to Atlanta. From there he was scheduled to continue to the Twin Cities for the team’s weekend rookie minicamp. However, the wide receiver vomited on the flight and was sent to an Atlanta hospital as a precaution. Childress also says doctors ruled out the swine flu.

Harvin went through an intense workout last week and has also been flying a lot recently, which Childress believes contributed to Harvin’s illness.

Percy Harvin has been released from an Atlanta hospital, and the former Gators star is resting at home in Green Cove Springs with no timetable for his return to Minneapolis.

I don’t normally post entire articles here for you to read, but Tom Robinson of the Virginia-Pilot does a pretty good job telling Percy Harvin’s story over the past few weeks. He talks about the failed drug test, attitude issues, and most importantly… his insane amount of talent on the football field.

I still don’t know what to make of Percy. I think he’ll be drafted at the bottom of the first round by possibly Miami or Indianapolis. And despite his failed drug test and terrible wonderlic score, I still believe Percy will be an awesome professional athlete. I can see a handful of Pro Bowls mixed in throughout his career.

The Virginian-Pilot

It’s no great leap of logic to conclude that Virginia Beach’s Percy Harvin, a brilliant football player, isn’t the brightest guy going. That’s no crime; the NFL covets athletes who can take it to the house, not draw blueprints of one.

Harsh as it might be, though, Harvin falls into a different category of dumb for coming to the February combine with marijuana in his system, as FOXSports.com and others have reported.

Harvin was the highest-profile player of fewer than a dozen to flunk the test. The urine test taken by every player invited to the combine. The test that is the furthest thing from a surprise. The test that is proclaimed and announced and all but plastered onto welcome posters at the Indianapolis airport: “Greetings, NFL prospects. Here, fill this cup.”

Smoking pot alone won’t necessarily cost Harvin untold dollars in this weekend’s NFL draft. Being obtuse, arrogant or even addicted enough to flunk a gimme drug test, though, is without question another pock mark for a guy long festooned with them for attitude, behavior and injury issues.

Or, as NFL Network analyst and former NFL player Mike Mayock said last week, not many club executives “are real excited to have a kid on their team who is dumb enough to test positive at the combine.”

Predictably, then, Harvin, who has great potential as a game-changer from numerous offensive positions, is thought to be plunging down draft boards as we speak.

Subtly, he’s gone from a solid first-rounder to a “first-day” guy now according to former head coach and commentator Steve Mariucci. The first and second draft rounds are held Saturday.

And according to Pro Football Weekly, five unnamed NFL executives unanimously named Harvin the greatest character risk among the draft’s top-flight players.

Ouch. Sure, Harvin could fall to the second round. It seems to be getting likelier by the day, in fact, which is where he’ll take a significant financial hit. Just as an example, last year there was roughly a $4 million difference in guaranteed money between the deals of No. 15 Branden Albert with the Chiefs and No. 30 Dustin Keller with the Jets.

Obviously, Harvin, who hasn’t responded to interview requests, is a handful, and he has been long enough – dating to his Landstown High days – that he’s not about to change. It still might not matter much.

“A team that’s been burned by an off-the-field issue, they’re going to shy away,” ESPN’s draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “If teams have had good success and have managed kids properly once they got to the NFL, they figure they mature, this is something they deal with, and then you have a different outlook.”

Sorry idealists, but in the pros, pure talent is what moves the worth-the-trouble meter. Harvin’s talent allowed him to compile nearly 2,000 yards rushing and 2,000 yards receiving in three seasons at the University of Florida. That’s rare ability that NFL teams are desperate, sometimes embarrassingly so, to obtain.

“I realize there’s been some negative publicity surrounding him,” said former head coach Jon Gruden, like Mariucci an NFL Network analyst. Nonetheless, Gruden said, Harvin “is the most dynamic offensive player I’ve seen in this draft. … Every time he touches the ball it’s downright scary.

“I love this guy as a football player, and I didn’t get any feel at all that he was anything but a game-day kind of guy, a great competitor. I hope that’s true.”

Gruden did reference Harvin’s reputation at Florida as difficult to coach: “He’s not one of those guys that, you know, looks forward to doing a lot of other things than playing on game day.”

Yet, “when the stage is lit and it’s time to play,” Gruden said, “this guy’s there and he shines brightest .”

Ultimately for Harvin, that brightness will matter the most.

The NFL Draft Bible and various other websites are reporting that Percy Harvin was one of three players at the NFL Combine to test positive for marijuana. I’m not really surprised when I hear an NFL player (or prospect) tests positive for drugs. It’s “part of the culture” right? If this report is true, it could cause him to fall a little bit in the draft and cost him millions of dollars.

To quote Alligator Army:

Where there is a story like this, people should hold judgment until a legitimate news organization reports it. So far, ESPN, Fox and Sports Illustrated have not reported that Harvin is on the list of failed drug tests. To the best of my knowledge, Harvin never failed a drug test in school, so it would be surprising he would fail his first one out of school.

Secondly, Harvin would have tested positive for weed, which can happen if you’re around a smoker and not actually doing the stuff. To me, weed is better than steroids, which is what USC LBs Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews are accused of. Every college kid comes in contact with weed at some point, not illegal steroids.

While we need to hold judgement until someone more credible than The NFL Draft Bible (would they be the Holy Book of Draft Day?) reports on this, let’s assume these six players did test positive. I don’t think it’s a big deal. Which is more a sign of Harvin’s character; playing a National Championship game on a broken leg, or possibly smoking weed?

Hopefully this is all a mix up and Percy’s name will be cleared. If it’s true, it won’t change much… he’ll still be an NFL superstar. Randy Moss smokes weed too, right?