Peterson Blowing Up the NFL
This just in: The Raiders want a draft do-over.
The one record I most wanted to be broken in NFL football was the single-game rushing record. It never quite sat right with me that Jamal Lewis got to hold that record after beating up on a sorry Browns defense. Even though they would never admit it, I'm sure Corey Dillon and Walter Payton agree. I did not, however, expect it to ever happen. 296 yards or more in an NFL game by a running back seemed almost impossible, since defenses as bad as the one Lewis ran against are rarely seen in the NFL (although the Bengals defense is working hard to set that bar at a new low -- just look at Lynch's TD run on Sunday). I certainly never expected to see a rookie break that hallowed record. I suppose even I underestimated Adrian Peterson.
That is saying a lot, because I've always been 100% sold on Peterson since college. I assumed the explosive runner would eventually go #1 overall after his breakout freshman and sophomore years in college. Approaching the recent draft, I was astounded how little draft buzz he got while teams and the media wasted their time on names like Russel and Quinn. I always found the questions about his health ridiculous. Every NFL player has questionable future health prospects, it's the nature of the game, so that line of reasoning seemed silly to me. Breaking a collarbone on a TD dive isn't a good reason to shy away from a talent of his caliber, and I'm sure NFL execs who had one of the top six picks in last year's draft agree, at least in private. Perhaps it's the common sense in me talking, or hindsight, but I'd rather have a first round pick setting records than a QB who won't even see the field in his first year or two. So why do QBs get the first picks? They are just as prone to success or failure as high profile RBs, historically.
But what of the other draft that matters, the fantasy football draft? Where are the "can't miss" picks that were hyped in the preseason... the Stephen Jacksons, the LaDanian Tomlinsons and the Shaun Alexanders of the world? They are mediocre to terrible this season, and perhaps now we will finally learn how out of sync hype and reality are in the modern NFL. Nothing, not even LT's Sunday performances, can be taken for granted anymore in this league. With the obvious exception of Brady and Manning. Those guys are always good.
Back to Peterson. This kid has not only shattered expectations of what he could do, he is shattering records and defenses with an alarming amount of talent and speed. As a rookie he is setting rushing records on a team with no passing attack and making ridiculous running numbers versus eight men in the box, consistently. This is the kind of thing that is supposed to be completely impossible in a veteran league that demands parity on offense to succeed. This is, simply put, unheard of. No one has ever rushed for 1,000 yards in the first eight games of the season, until now. No one has ever rushed for 296 yards in a game, until now. We could be looking at a new single-season rushing record here.
Now, the flood of recognition from the media and the NFL veterans is beginning. Musings from Sunday and Monday from the NFL media and soundbites suddenly had Peterson as either the best running back ever, the best running back since Jim Brown, the best running back since Barry or Emmit, or simply the best current running back in the game, depending on who you were listening to. Certainly he is the best running back in Minnesota since Walker, and that alone is saying quite a bit... I was never convinced that Walker was a mere mortal, that guy was made from an entirely different set of materials than us mere humans are. Peterson is looking cut from the same cloth. My only fear is the same as Steve Young's fear about Peterson... he may try too hard at the end of plays, and that may end up getting him hurt. Time will tell, but as Young says, if Peterson learns how to finish plays safely and save his body, then the sky is the limit.
Where Peterson places all time is irrelevant right now. What matters is we have another stellar, exciting runner in the NFL to watch. He has the same combination of speed and power that make Jim Brown highlights such a thrill to watch, and as a result, watching the Vikings isn't the borefest it used to be. If the Vikings find a passing game, they are an immediate playoff threat with such an explosive runner, but time will tell. For now, I'm watching this rookie marvel and enjoying every second. nfl, football, record, Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings, draft
