Adrian Peterson possessed an unreal 2012, dropping just shy of Eric Dickerson's single-season flowing record, earning NFL MVP honors and doing so after an amazingly quick recovery from massive leg injuries.
Because at the final of the day, they cannot have him carry the ball 348 times if they want to make it further than they did in 2012.
Six other players have rushed for more than 2, 000 yards—Eric Dickerson, Craig Sanders, Jamal Lewis, Terrell Davis, Chad Johnson and O. N. Simpson—and none of them ever did it again. In fact, just Sanders, Dickerson and Simpson also came within 200 yards in the 2, 000 yard recognise and each only originated that close once.
Last season the Vikings went the ball 401 times making use of their running backs, compared to help you 483 pass attempts by way of Christian Ponder.
Digging deeper, the Vikings just cannot work as they did last 365 days. They are desperate for balance to the offense. While Peterson outmaneuvered 8-10 and nine men in a box, it's not this team's preference.
They don't want your ex to abuse his body in that position and they know which he can actually be efficient with less carries once they can get the growing game going.
Besides which, they need to find if Christian Ponder has what can be done to be their business quarterback. They won't discover that out by running a ball.
They need to learn which is the actual Ponder: The guy which threw for 270 showrooms against Jacksonville Week 1, three touchdowns against Green Bay inside of a critical Week 17 performance and 352 yards next to Washington in Week 6? And also the guy who put four interceptions in some games during Weeks 12, 13 and 14 along with the guy who threw with regard to sub-200 yards in being unfaithful of 16 games?
Ultimately although, that's not the plan. We know this because the team made three very big moves to get Ponder weapons to raise his passing game.
Trading Percy Harvin was the long-awaited end to the tumultuous few seasons. Indeed, losing Harvin is hard on the quarterback (and let's be honest, the last thing anyone wanted was to find a guy like Russell Wilson acquire him as a target) but it opened the way in which for making this offense stronger in the long run.
The trade netted a further first-rounder while moving a guy who apparently just isn't happy. Harvin is a very talented player but for reasons uknown, he wasn't content within Minnesota. Maybe it had been money, maybe it ended up being the offense—heck, maybe it's the snow.
Acquiring that extra first-round pick—and certain cap room (Harvin now counts cheaper than a million in cap space)—set up the next two moves.
Just about the most critical of which is signing Greg Jennings for a five-year, $45 million contract (only $5 million that would hit this year, consistent with Spotrac).
The Vikings have lacked a vertical threat for years and if Jennings might stay healthy, he could open things up from the outside and give Ponder a long distance weapon he wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
Just as vital was that extra initial rounder, which eventually become Xavier Rhodes, a pick which supports the defense immeasurably along with keep things close which means Ponder isn't throwing regularly from behind.
Both in the Vikings' initial first-round picks went around to the defensive side of the ball, and as things broke—with each of those Rhodes and defensive undertake Sharrif Floyd lingering in the board long past when they should have—the team was wanting to leave the first experiencing drastically improved their ton.
However, it also meant they had the luxury associated with rolling the dice, and as Cordarrelle Patterson dropped with the end of the primary round, that's just just what they did.
It's unfair (and sort of nuts) to say Patterson is immediately travelling to replace Percy Harvin. Nevertheless, he does help fill the void that is disregarded this year and could actually turn into good—perhaps even better—than Harvin.
That is a significant investment in a very passing offense which—let's be honest—lingered somewhere in mediocre and horrific a large number of days.
If they were travelling to run Peterson into the garden soil, they'd have spent their picks on blocking snug ends, tackles and large fullbacks.
Peterson is their second-highest paid player shock as to (behind Jared Allen) together with he's under contract to your next five years.
Today, you and I (and AD) recognize that there's no guarantee he could finish that contract but in theory it is a guy the team wants to have about for many years.
Sure, Peterson had back-to-back 300 plus carry seasons ahead of time in his career nevertheless team eased way off on the throttle after that. You won't want to lean that heavily for the 28-year-old running back who might be a year-and-a-half removed with catastrophic knee surgery.
That's not saying I expect Peterson to remain injured or even banned; merely that 348 carries can be a ton for anyone and no doubt the team will prefer to pull him back to somewhere sub-300 and keep him at his top and healthy for a lot more than just this season.
Part of building some sort of passing offense is to take examples of the burden from Peterson with the intention that he can remain a viable cornerstone of their offense for many years to come.
Peterson has set the lofty objectives of topping 2, 500 yards and obtaining a Super Bowl ring. That's two tall orders and another might preclude the some other. While Peterson might be capable of the first (he either must up his yards per carry well above a career-high six yards for carry or run for above 348 carries), there's a good chance he won't find the latter if that will happen.
The Vikings know the following, and really so will Peterson. So when that team keeps him out of reaching 2, 000 you won't hear him complain. Do not hear him grouse or even see him point fingers.
Because ultimately this individual knows 1, 500 yards this season is really as valuable to his team—maybe even more so—that 2, 000.
Andrew Garda is the former NFC North Lead Writer together with a current NFL Analyst and additionally video personality for Bleacher State. He is also an affiliate of the fantasy sports staff at Footballguys and the NFL writer at CheeseheadTV. com. You can follow him at @andrew_garda upon Twitter.
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