Why Jahvid Best Is Better Than Percy Harvin

There's a saying that stats do not lie. Well if that's the case then Jahvid Best is by far a much better player than Percy Harvin is. Yet, during this season has Best been talked about by media outlets as being a top 10 player in college football? The answer is no. 

In a recent comment by a fellow Bleacherreport member named Kevin he talked about Percy Harvin as being in the top 10 as far as players in college football this year. I'm thinking to myself how's that even possible if Best isn't even in the top 10? 

So, I decided to a do a little research and comparisons stats wise. This year wasn't Harvin's best season for the Florida Gators. In fact it was Harvin's Sophomore year that he had his best season as a Gator. 

So, I decided to compare Best's best season to this year Harvin's stats and Harvin's Sophmore year where he had his best season. In terms of all-purpse yards. 

First off is Harvin. In Harvin's sophomore year he caught 59 passes for 858 yards and had 4 touchdowns receiving he also rushed 83 times for 764 yards and 6 touchdowns. Meaning if you combined the number of times Harvin had the ball he had a total of 142 touches, had 1622 yards combined,a total of 10 touchdowns, and a long of 66 yards  in 2007 his Sophomore year.

In his Junior year Harvin had 40 catches for 645 yards and 7 touchdowns and had 70 carries for 659 yards and 10 touchdowns and a long of 80 yards.  So combined he had 1304 yards and 17 touchdowns this year. 

Jahvid's Sophomore year. Best carried the ball 194 times for 1580 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 27 passes for 246 yards and 1 touchdown, with a long of 86 yards. In total Best had 1826 yards and 16 touchdowns this year. 

So the reality is if you take this year's Harvin's stats Best had a total of 522 more yards than Harvin and only one less touchdown. If you take Harvin's best season yardage wise which is the 1622 yards, Best still beats him by 204 yards and had six more touchdowns than Harvin did in his Sophomore year. 

So, the question that must be asked if Percy Harvin is a top 10 players where does that leave Jahvid Best? The answer is in 2009 Best is considered the top running back in the country and for the 2008 season it means that Best is ahead of Harvin in terms of being the better all-purpose player.

Lastly I would say that both Best and Harvin are tough, but the edge goes to Best because he played since late September with a a dislocated elbow and a bothersome ankle and he still managed in his last four games to rush for 814 yards, which is more than what Harvin ran for this year or on the receiving end. 

On a sidenote though there were 26 running backs that had more combined yards than Harvin and there were seven wide receivers that had more yards than Harvin. So, just because Harvin can be used out of the backfield more than most wide receivers it doesn't mean that he's a top 10 player. He does have the ability to get yards in a variety of ways but even with that he hasn't come close to a season like Best's.