Percy Harvin Injury: Vikings WR Will Save Fantasy Owners Desperate for Yardage

The Minnesota Vikings have had a very trying season, and it is only getting worse now that they are missing Adrian Peterson with an ankle injury. The good news, for those that want to see it, is that Percy Harvin is starting to heat up as we enter the final stretch of the season. 

Harvin has been battling bruised ribs for the last few weeks, but it is not showing in his performance. In fact, he is playing as well as he has all year. 

Harvin got off to a slow start this season. He wasn't catching a lot of passes, and even when he was, the yardage wasn't there to make him a quality starter each week for your fantasy team. He looked like a bust in the making. 

But over the last two weeks, something has changed with Harvin and his role in the Vikings offense. He is starting to catch the ball more consistently on the outside—six in each of the past two weeks—but that is not all that he has been doing. In addition to catching passes, Harvin has also been getting touches out of the backfield. He has 12 carries in the last three weeks combined for 58 yards. That does not sound like a lot, but when you add in his receiving yards, it makes his numbers stand out even more. 

With Peterson out for this week's game, Harvin is going to get even more touches out of the backfield. Even if his role in the passing game takes a hit as a result, the total yardage will more than make up for his lack of catches. 

We all love Toby Gerhart for what he did at Stanford, but he's never been a featured back in the NFL. Sitting behind Peterson doesn't leave a lot of time for others to get carries, but Gerhart doesn't have the "it" factor to be a dynamic running back in the NFL. 

Gerhart isn't going to run over opponents at this level, so he has to try and run around them, and he is not known for his speed and ability to make defenders miss. 

Harvin is an electric runner that can make even the best tacklers miss. He is a dynamic player that can excel in any role that is asked of him. 

Even if the rest of the Vikings offense has a terrible day, which is not out of the question, Harvin will have a great game and prove to skeptical fantasy owners everywhere that he is a force to be reckoned with over the final six weeks of the season.