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Adrian Peterson: Rookie Of The Year
by Sam Monson
10/11/2007
 Adrian Peterson is tearing up the NFL Record Book and starting again. After only 8 games of the 2007 regular season, Peterson leads the league by nearly 300 clear yards. He’s also leading the league in Touchdowns.
The quiet kid from Palestine, Texas came into the league with lofty goals. He let it be known that his goal for the season was to win Rookie of the Year, and rush for 1800 yards. At the time people dismissed it as the optimistic hopes of a young kid looking to make an impact, if he topped 1000 he’d be doing well, after all he was going to be sharing time with Chester Taylor the Minnesota Vikings’ incumbent 1200 yard rusher in the dual back system that’s become so popular in the NFL. Well, he’s surpassed 1000 yards after just 8 games, at 6.6 yards per carry. He’s on pace to be only the 6th man to break the 2000 yard barrier, and he’s doing it whilst still splitting carries with Chester Taylor.
Peterson exploded early on, and over the first 5 games of his career, trailed only Eric Dickerson in yardage gained by rookie RBs in their first 5 career games. Since then he’s added the NFL’s all-time single game record for rushing yards to his tally, a massive 296 rushing yards against one of the league’s better run Defenses in the San Diego Chargers, despite losing 9 carries to Chester Taylor, and the Vikings taking a knee to end the game rather than give the ball to Peterson again.
In only 8 games, Peterson now has 2 games of over 200 rushing yards. Earl Campbell holds the NFL record with four 200 yard games in a single season; OJ Simpson and Tiki Barber both have 3. Adrian Paterson now has 2 in his first 8 games! In those 8 games he also earned the NFL’s all-time single-game rushing record, and the 3rd highest total-yardage single-game total in NFL History. He’s on pace for one of the greatest seasons of all time by a running back, and he’s doing it all as a rookie. When asked after the Bears game what was the one thing in the NFL that he found wasn’t as tough as he was expecting, he replied: The Speed. Such a big deal is made of the jump between the college speed and the NFL speed, yet Adrian Peterson has been running rings around elite defenders all season, and running away from the fastest guys in the NFL.
To put Peterson’s season in perspective, here’s how it stacks up against some of the greatest seasons of all time by running backs:
Adrian Peterson, 2007: 6.6 yards per carry, 1,036 yards (8 games)
Jim Brown, 1963: 6.4 yards per carry, 1,963 yards (14 games)
Gale Sayers, 1968: 6.2 yards per carry, 856 yards (9 games)
Barry Sanders, 1997: 6.1 yards per carry, 2,053 yards
O.J. Simpson, 1973: 6.0 yards per carry, 2,003 yards (14 games)
Eric Dickerson, 1984: 5.6 yards per carry, 2,105 yards
Walter Payton, 1977: 5.5 yards per carry, 1,852 yards (14 games)
Ladanian Tomlinson, 2003: 5.3 yards per carry, 1,645 yards
Emmitt Smith, 1993: 5.3 yards per carry, 1,486 yards
Earl Campbell, 1980: 5.2 yards per carry, 1,934 yards
Terrell Davis, 1998: 5.1 yards per carry, 2,008 yards
What makes these achievements even more remarkable is that Adrian Peterson IS the Minnesota Vikings’ Offense. For weeks now teams have been stacking the box to shut down the Vikings’ running game, because with the carousel of guys behind Centre for the Vikings this year, they have been unable to establish any kind of threatening passing game. Teams have arrived with the express intention of shutting down Adrian Peterson. He’s being targeted more than any other NFL RB, and he’s still on course for one of the best seasons of all time.
 Peterson’s running isn’t just about getting the records that seem to fall left, right and centre when he gets given the ball, his mere threat is breathing new life into the Vikings’ Offense as a whole. The Offensive Line, inconsistent throughout the season, gets motivated when they see Peterson scampering for big gains, and as evidenced by the games against the Bears and Chargers, when Bryant McKinnie is motivated, his assignment in the running game is in big trouble. The threat of Peterson’s runs allows the Vikings to hit teams with the play action pass, such as the 40 yard TD pass to Sidney Rice this weekend, or the 60 yard TD pass to Troy Williamson against the Chicago Bears. Peterson isn’t just a one man running juggernaut; he’s also fixing the passing game, without needing to catch a pass.
The scary thing..? He’s getting better game by game. During the San Diego game Peterson took a hand-off, and rather than charging through the emerging hole, slowed up just long enough to allow TE Jim Kleinsasser to finish his block. Peterson then dashed inside of Kleinsasser, bounced to the sideline, and picked up a game-sealing touchdown. This was something that RB Coach Eric Bieniemy had been preaching for much of the season. “He’s just setting up things better, particularly on outside runs,” Childress said. “He’s patient as opposed to bursting and wanting to use his speed always.” Rather than getting carried away with his success, Peterson has demonstrated incredible maturity in dedicating himself to the little things, and to always improving. Setting up his blocks better was just one of those things: “I really studied it and looked at the other things I can do better,” Peterson said.
Peterson heads into game 9 at Lambeau field well on his way to eclipsing Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards, but more importantly for him and his teammates, he brings with him the chance to win the game, and to spark the Vikings towards one of the more unlikely playoff runs in recent memory. At 3-5 and with one of the NFL’s most dangerous weapon, the Vikings aren’t yet finished in the NFC. Peterson intends to see they won’t be for a while longer.
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