BGM wrote:Really?
Earl Campbell had a nine season career on some not great Oilers teams and he is in the HoF. Adrian Peterson has almost twice as many receiving yards and is within 2000 yards of Campbell's total rushing yardage after only five-and-a-half seasons. And Campbell never scored a TD receiving.
Adrian Peterson had 137 rec for 1309 yards (9.55 avg) after his first five seasons. Compare that to Emmit Smith who had 239 rec for 1576 yards (6.59 avg) after his first five seasons, Jim Brown who had 121 rec for 1045 yards (8.64 avg), Barry Sanders who had 166 rec for 1499 yards (9.03 avg), Eric Dickerson who had 123 rec for 912 yards (7.41 avg) and Walter Payton who had 156 rec for 1424 yards (9.13 avg) after their first five seasons.
I think, in this case, perception has trumped reality. While we all see Peterson for the electric runner he is, what gets lost is his excellent production on average as a receiving back. He had 3 rec TDs in his first five seasons. Dickerson had 2. Smith and Payton each had 4. Brown had 6. Should he be utilized more in the passing game? Maybe. But it can be argued that Percy Harvin has shouldered much of that role.
I think he stacks up well in comparison to these HoFers.
He definitely stacks up well. I'm glad you included Payton in there because he was about as complete as an RB could be and as we can see, in his first 5 seasons, he only averaged about 4 catches per season more than Peterson. I don't think an RB has to put up the kind of receiving numbers Faulk or Tomlinson did to be a complete back. BTW, Peterson is on pace to have a career high 46 receptions this season.
I don't think there's any doubt that he will receive serious consideration to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.