We must be in one of those lulls in the NFL draft speculation calendar — between mock drafts 42 and 43 — so ESPN's Mel Kiper has a feature on ESPN.com in which he redoes the 2009 draft based on the order players would be selected if we knew then what we know now.
We clicked on the link because we thought, "Oh, 2009. Percy Harvin. The Vikings got a steal with Harvin. He must be higher than the actual draft slot where they picked him at No. 22."
Wrong. And yes, it's just Kiper's opinion. But he has Harvin as the No. 25 pick in the draft, after the Vikings picked. For Minnesota, he picks safety Glover Quinn — who he deems the 22nd-best player/value from that draft now.
Of Harvin, he writes: "Harvin's name seems to inspire a lot of buzz, which isn't unfair if you saw him in his prime with the ball in his hands. But the reality is he hasn't been a big part of an NFL offense since the 2012 season, and he played in only nine games that year. He's still only 26 years old, but he'll be with his fourth franchise in 2015. Harvin does have an All-Pro season on his résumé — as a return man in 2009."
Those of us who watched Harvin when he was engaged and healthy in those four seasons with the Vikings can't fathom him not being a top-10 player from that draft, but Kiper makes a good point. If anything, it's a reminder of just how far Harvin's stock has fallen.
