Mike Freeman from CBS Sports wrote an article titled “Oh mercy! Where’s the Heisman love for Percy?”

Free starts the article off by saying “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: Harvin has scored a touchdown in 12 straight games, getting 19 total scores in that two-season span. It’s the second-longest active streak in the country.”

While I think we can all agree that Percy Harvin is the most dynamic player in college football, and that if he were in a different system, he probably would be a Heisman favorite. Because Florida has so many weapons they don’t have to give Percy Harvin the ball 25 times a game to win. If the award was given to purely the best player, despite stats… then percy would have as good a shot as anyone.

Freeman goes on to say:

“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.

I doubt he’ll win the Heisman, but it’s nice to see someone in the national media giving him the attention he deserves.

For the first time in 2008, Percy Harvin was given an SEC honor! Earlier this week, percy was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the South Carolina game.

From GatorZone.com:

Harvin rushed for a career-high 167 yards and tied a career high with two rushing touchdowns in UF’s 56-6 win over No. 24 South Carolina. His 167 rushing yards versus the Gamecocks were the most by any wide receiver in the nation this year against a top-25 program. Harvin’s performance on the ground against USC propelled him to the third spot in the UF record books for rushing yards in a season by a wide receiver with 476 in 2008, and now owns the top three spots for that record. Harvin scored on an career-long 80 yard rush on the first play of the second half and now has scored a touchdown in the past 12 games he has played in, tying Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree for the longest streak in the country.

Harvin leads the Gators with 476 rushing yards in 2008 on 52 carries and seven touchdowns. Four of his seven receiving touchdowns have come in his last 14 catches. He leads the SEC in scoring with 9.3 points per game.

With two regular season games left, there is still time for Percy Harvin to get on a roll. I doubt he’ll play much vs. Citadel this weekend, but if he can put up 150+ yards and have another big 70+ yard run/catch, then he may grab himself another honor.

I’ll get more into this during the offseason, but I just wanted to show all of you where some of the “experts” have Percy Harvin going in the 2009 NFL Draft. And face it folks… Percy may only be a junior, but he’s not coming back to Florida for a senior year. There’s too much money on the line for first round picks.

NFL Draft Dog – 21st overall pick
Not huge at 5′ 11″ 184 pounds, but Harvin is a super talent and put up huge numbers in 2007 where he ran for 764 yards and 6 TDs and also caught 59 passes for 858 yards and 4 TDs.

Football Futures – 17th overall pick
There is no one on the roster that provides big play ability from the WR spot for the Jets. Harvin’s explosiveness would be a great fit out of the slot and give Brett Favre another weapon to make one last push before he hangs it up for good.

The Football Expert – 32nd overall pick
The Titans have failed to draft a receiver the past few years, even though they have lacked the playmaking receiver. But things may change with Harvin because Harvin has something the Titans seem to crave: speed. With 4.3 speed, Harvin fits the mold of previous first round picks Chris Henry and Chris Johnson. Harvin lacks ideal 5-11, 195 lbs, but definitely is a speed burner who has been used at RB at Florida. His major negative is he has had some injuries during college.

So you can see that Percy Harvin’s draft spot has a large range to it. If he continues to play well these final few games and manages to stay healthy, his draft stock will only go up. It will be fun to compare this post with more mock drafts as we get closer to April.

SEC Media Days start tomorrow in Alabama. The University of Florida is scheduled for Wednesday from 1:10 – 3:10 p.m. I’m sure you can dial in to any local SEC sports radio stations (like 1010xl.com) and get constant updates. I was shocked to see Percy Harvin missing from the lineup for the Univeristy of Florida. The Gators obviously have Coach Urban Meyer and QB Tim Tebow scheduled for the press conference, but they also brought along OT Phil Trautwein, who didn’t play last year. But he is a senior, so I can’t really argue it.

Chris Low of ESPN.com had this to say about the situation: “Florida receiver Percy Harvin: I know coaches like to spread the wealth and bring one offensive and one defensive player, but Harvin is the most exciting playmaker in the league. Maybe his surgically repaired right heel simply couldn’t withstand the pounding of walking to and from all those interviews. Nah, Percy’s shown on the field he’s a lot tougher than that.”

It must have been a hard decision for Urban to make. The fans and the media want to see Percy Harvin. They want to know how he’s doing. With a good year in 2008, Percy will be headed to the NFL… so I don’t think he’ll get another chance to participate in an SEC Media Day. O-well.

The Biletnikoff Award is given to college football’s most outstanding wide receiver. In 2007, the award was present to Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree. This year, the Bleacher Report is putting Percy Harvin’s name up on the list as a potential winner. Of course he’ll be up against some stiff competition in Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin.

Last year, Percy didn’t have a good shot at winning the award because he was utilized heavily as a running back. If Meyer is true to his word and Harvin doesn’t carry the ball as much in 2008, that will open him up for more involvement in the passing game. Harvin is a very fast, deep threat receiver. He has potential to get 1400+ receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns if he stays healthy. And with the nation’s best quarterback, Tim Tebow, throwing him the ball, Percy could also push close 100 receptions.

It will take a magical, healthy year for Percy Harvin to win the Biletnikoff in 2008, but it’s nice to see him getting national attention at the wide receiver position.

Let’s make it clear that when we talk about comparisons between Percy Harvin and Reggie Bush, we’re talking about what they’ve done on the field in the NCAA. In no way are we implying that Percy will be mixed up with legal troubles and accusations of NCAA violations.

Someone with the Bleacher Report wrote a nice little article about Percy Harvin and Reggie Bush. The article starts out saying Percy is the next Reggie, just America doesn’t know it yet. And by the next Reggie, they mean a badass WR/RB combo that possesses all the skills necessary to be an absolute star. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

A guy who was listed as the nation’s number one prep player in 2006 by Rivals.com (Bush was their number two ranked player coming out of high school in 2003).

A guy who, through two seasons, gained more yards from scrimmage on fewer touches than Bush did in his first two seasons.

Reggie got you 7.7 yards per touch. Percy got you 11.3, and did it against tougher defenses.

While he has a penchant for making gamebreaking, nearly impossible plays, his best asset may be his final burst at the point of contact, almost as if he can see the yellow first down line on the field.

If you want to keep reading, check out the entire Bleacher Report article here.

Everything that we’ve been reading says that Percy Harvin has had this heel injury for a year or more. It maybe wasn’t in as much pain, but it definitely bothered him. So that means since Percy has been on the Gators, he’s never been 100%. What if this surgery makes him 100%? It means he’ll be even better then before!

Tony Barnhart of the AJC brought this exact same topic up as his number 1 question of the week. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Could Percy Harvin actually get better? The Florida wide receiver had surgery on Monday to correct a chronic heel problem. Does that mean that in his first two seasons he’s been running with a sore heel? Does that mean he could actually get BETTER after he recovers from the surgery? That’s going to keep some defensive coordinators up at night. Somebody wrote on the blog the other day that Harvin was an overrated player who could do only one thing: run fast. You have got to be kidding me. That’s not what the defensive coordinators in this league think. He scares them to death.

The following article was printed in the Alligator today. Urban Meyer is turning the Orange and Blue Spring game into a fun festival will all sorts of activities. He wants to get the attention of the National Media and really amp of future recruits. The fastest non-student athlete will race Percy Harvin for a scholarship. Pretty cool huh?

Think you can beat Percy Harvin, Deonte Thompson, Louis Murphy and Chris Rainey in the 40-yard dash?

UF coach Urban Meyer will give students a chance to prove it — with a full scholarship on the line.

Meyer announced the first-ever speed challenge on Wednesday. The event will take place during the Orange and Blue Game on April 12. ESPN GameDay will broadcast live from Gainesville and ESPN will televise the game live.

While full details have yet to be worked out, Meyer said that on Thursdays of spring practices, which begin March 19, strength coaches will be out on the practice fields and students will be invited to come out and train. The entrants will be whittled down to one lucky contestant who will face Harvin, Thompson, Murphy and Rainey in front of a packed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

“I want to give back to our students somehow,” Meyer said. “That’s going to be a great afternoon. If I’m a recruit and I come out and watch the ESPN GameDay crew in the stadium, watch it on a beautiful afternoon in the spring in Florida, and then you get to see a 40-yard dash in front of 60,000 people, that’d be kind of neat. Maybe that can help us get a couple of fast guys in recruiting.”