Adrian Peterson -- The elephant in the room

[Mothman]

Exactly, you can't be whiffing blocks regularly, dropping easy catches and fumbling at terrible times and just say you are "gonna work on it"

What is he supposed to say, that he doesn't care and won't work on it? At this point, he's battling perception as much as reality. He made a lot of good blocks this year. I thought his improvement in that regard was obvious. He caught the majority of passes thrown his way too.

There's improvement and then there's perfection. Anybody who expects the latter from Peterson is always going to be disappointed. He's never going to make every block or catch every pass thrown his way. Nobody does. He's probably never going to be a fluid, wholly natural pass-catcher but he's proven he can be an effective receiver out of the backfield.

He's been able to get a handle on fumbling in the past so I see no reason to think he won't be able to do so again.

I think these issues pale in comparison to his positive contributions to the team.

[Mothman]

Disagree for myself personally.

I was obviously generalizing. I should have known better. Sorry. Naturally, there are fans who don't have a "zero tolerance" view on mistakes. It sounds like we're both among them.

Everyone fumbles sometimes. Adrian does it ONCE in the middle of a game during the regular season? Oh well, won't like it, but will live with it. Critical playoff game, care a lot more. His problem has been the multiple fumble games and the critical fumble. Didn't he have a multiple fumble game this year as well?

Yes, in week 2 against the Lions.

NFC championship game ones were backbreaking as well.

Only the botched exchange with Favre, which was costly. The other two didn't end up hurting at all.

Fumbles are frustrating, no doubt, and they obviously need to be kept to an absolute minimum. He should have secured the ball better on that play against Seattle.

[IrishViking]

What is he supposed to say, that he doesn't care and won't work on it? At this point, he's battling perception as much as reality. He made a lot of good blocks this year. I thought his improvement in that regard was obvious. He caught the majority of passes thrown his way too.

There's improvement and then there's perfection. Anybody who expects the latter from Peterson is always going to be disappointed. He's never going to make every block or catch every pass thrown his way. Nobody does. He's probably never going to be a fluid, wholly natural pass-catcher but he's proven he can be an effective receiver out of the backfield.

He's been able to get a handle on fumbling in the past so I see no reason to think he won't be able to do so again.

I think these issues pale in comparison to his positive contributions to the team.

I disagree. I think a lot of people are over looking things for 2009 or 2012 Peterson and they don't realize its not what they have anymore.

I think Teddy would have been exponentially more effective with 100 more drop backs (especially from shotgun where he is more comfortable and empirically better) and Peterson Carry 100 fewer times. I will go so far as I don't think Dropping Peterson and running a Mck/Asiata tandem would have made an appreciable difference to our offensive production this year and in fact I think it may have ran smoother. I don't think a 31 year old back that the offense keys on and you need to force feed hoping for the home run ball and who has a history of fumbling in key games brings any serious value and if you disagree I would honestly suggest you take sometime and look at Peterson production and what you could expect with the Tandem. All year the offensive running plays just looked generally smoother with Mck running out of the back field. Was he better than AP? no I wouldn't say that. What I am saying is that I think that the offense would perform better with smoother production from the RB back core. Yes I am going to get skewered for this but I'd argue that 1100 yards that every run is closer to the YPCA is far more valuable to a team than five 1-3 yard runs with a 25 yarder to cap it off followed by 2 runs that net 2 yards forcing a 3rd and 7.


I know most everyone will disagree with me

[Crax]

Only the botched exchange with Favre, which was costly. The other two didn't end up hurting at all.

I've only re-watched that game once and I'm hesitant to have to put myself through it again. They may not have led to points, but it felt like a total momentum killer if I remember right. I try not to remember it though.

[Mothman]

I've only re-watched that game once and I'm hesitant to have to put myself through it again. They may not have led to points, but it felt like a total momentum killer if I remember right. I try not to remember it though.

As I said the botched exchange hurt. That occurred at the Saints 4 yard line. The other two were both recovered by the Vikings. One of them was recovered for a loss and the picked up a first down on the next play to continue the drive. The other was recovered by Peterson himself and that play ended in about a 15 yard gain.

[Mothman]

I disagree. I think a lot of people are over looking things for 2009 or 2012 Peterson and they don't realize its not what they have anymore.

I realize exactly what they have in Peterson at this point. He's still an explosive playmaker out of the backfield when he gets some blocking. He's a fast, agile, powerful runner who commands extra attention from virtually every defense he faces. That hasn't changed. It was still true this season.

I think Teddy would have been exponentially more effective with 100 more drop backs (especially from shotgun where he is more comfortable and empirically better) and Peterson Carry 100 fewer times. I will go so far as I don't think Dropping Peterson and running a Mck/Asiata tandem would have made an appreciable difference to our offensive production this year and in fact I think it may have ran smoother.

I doubt it. They lost virtually every game in which they didn't give Peterson enough carries, several of them in blowouts. They were 6-9 without his services last season. I think Bridgewater would have been sacked another dozen times or more using the approach you described above and the Vikes probably would have suffered another blowout loss or two. They simply didn't have the o-line to use that approach.

I don't think a 31 year old back that the offense keys on and you need to force feed hoping for the home run ball and who has a history of fumbling in key games brings any serious value...

They don't need to force feed him the ball for him to be effective. They chose to force feed him the ball because it gave them the best chance to win this season. How is that not painfully obvious to everyone? The OL stunk. Bridgewater was wildly inconsistent. Peterson was a stabilizing force for the offense and a much-needed one. Improve the blocking and passing game around him and it won't be necessary to lean on him so heavily.

... and if you disagree I would honestly suggest you take sometime and look at Peterson production and what you could expect with the Tandem.

Oh, I've looked at it... last season and this season.

All year the offensive running plays just looked generally smoother with Mck running out of the back field.

I think you need to go back and look more carefully.

[IrishViking]

Jim I think at this point we just have very opposite opinions on Teddy and Peterson and time will have to tell.

[Mothman]

Jim I think at this point we just have very opposite opinions on Teddy and Peterson and time will have to tell.

Clearly.

I just don't think the approach you're suggesting was viable this season behind that o-line, with that passing game.

[IrishViking]

Clearly.

I just don't think the approach you're suggesting was viable this season behind that o-line, with that passing game.

I guess the difference of opinion stems from the belief that I think Peterson benefited from a huge commitment to the run from our team that would have carried over to virtually any running back in the league. While you seem to believe that Peterson's talent were a big part of the reason. Which is in no way a poor idea. I just disagree.

[TSonn]

Adrian publicly acknowledging his deficiencies goes a long way with me. Its hard not to respect people who can do that. I still doubt he will be able to make the necessary changes, but I appreciate the sincere effort I think he will put in.

Yeah, again it's cool to take responsibility but what was he doing last offseason? It seemed pretty clear that we wanted to go more shotgun this season but ultimately didn't stick with it because AD was ineffective out of the shotgun. Why wasn't he working on it last summer? If he worked on it, why does he think he can improve it this summer?

[Mothman]

guess the difference of opinion stems from the belief that I think Peterson benefited from a huge commitment to the run from our team that would have carried over to virtually any running back in the league. While you seem to believe that Peterson's talent were a big part of the reason. Which is in no way a poor idea. I just disagree.

I don't think there's any question that Peterson's talent was key. That strategy wouldn't work with just any back because most backs don't command so much respect and attention from opposing defenses, nor do most backs have the talent to do what Peterson does against those defenses. He gains a LOT of yards after contact, more than the vast majority of RBs.

[chicagopurple]

he cant pass block, he cant run without getting the ball way in the backfield, he isnt getting younger or faster, he is playing on 2 rebuilt knees and is over 30.....and he is a RB, which is not a position the league is favoring under current rules.....if you can trade him for good value it would be crazy to not do so.

[TSonn]

I guess the difference of opinion stems from the belief that I think Peterson benefited from a huge commitment to the run from our team that would have carried over to virtually any running back in the league. While you seem to believe that Peterson's talent were a big part of the reason. Which is in no way a poor idea. I just disagree.

That's a good way to put it. AD turned some nothing plays into decent/big gains this year, which a lot of other backs couldn't do, but he also lost yards sometimes looking for a bigger hole where other backs would take the yardage. I do wonder if most other starting RBs in the league would have had similar production numbers with the amount of carries AD got this year.

[Mothman]

Yeah, again it's cool to take responsibility but what was he doing last offseason? It seemed pretty clear that we wanted to go more shotgun this season but ultimately didn't stick with it because AD was ineffective out of the shotgun. Why wasn't he working on it last summer? If he worked on it, why does he think he can improve it this summer?

I'm SO tired of this shotgun silliness.

What makes you think he didn't work on it last summer? Presumably, they were running from it in camp and practice.

It's a passing formation. The primary running play from it is the draw, which relies on deception. It's hard to deceive a defense keying on Peterson and anticipating that he'll get the ball by formation alone and the only way to really make them defend it differently is to frequently pass effectively enough from it, with Peterson in the game, to get them to stop keying on him.

Furthermore, regarding this idea that the Vikings wanted to go with more shotgun this season but ultimately didn't stick with it because AD was ineffective out of the shotgun: has it occurred to any of the fans who constantly harp on this point that the Vikings may have immediately turned away from the strategy after week 1 not just because Peterson was ineffective on a few of his 4 shotgun carries but also because they only managed to muster 3 points all night with that strategy?

I think they simply turned to Peterson and asked him to do what he's always done well because they wanted to emphasize a strength and complement their defense. If they'd been truly committed to the shotgun as their base formation, and stuck with it, I see no reason to assume he wouldn't have grown more comfortable in it with repetition.

[Mothman]

Maybe Peterson would be better off elsewhere. Too many Vikings fans seem to have lost all perspective on what this Hall of fame back has brought, and continues to bring, to the team.