meoveryouxinfinity
8/8/2007, 11:15 AM
Was in today's paper and didn't see it posted yet.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/vikings/2007-08-07-adrian-peterson_N.htm
Is Peterson a home run hitter for Vikings?
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
MANKATO, Minn. — Adrian Peterson may be the right guy in the right place for the right time but is he in the right sport?
There's no question the Minnesota Vikings, who ranked 23rd in the NFL last season in offense, needed a playmaker with some burst. With the seventh pick in the draft, they got one. One, they say, who can hit home runs.
Home runs?
Peterson scored 41 touchdowns in three seasons (and only 31 games) at Oklahoma, set the NCAA freshman rushing record (1,925 yards) and finished as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher. He was so potent a force that he missed seven games in 2006 and still led the Sooners in rushing for a third consecutive year.
The Vikings may crave touchdowns and yards, but home runs dominate the conversation. All the descriptions of Peterson seem to cross the sidelines and head for the comfort of the dugout.
"He's a home-run hitter," says fullback Tony Richardson.
"The biggest thing we saw in him was the ability to hit the home run," says coach Brad Childress.
Peterson sees himself as "a back that can get that home-run shot."
Perhaps he can be captured in football terms by someone who couldn't quite wrap him up on the field. Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin played against Peterson three years ago when Oklahoma beat Texas 12-0 and Peterson ran for 225 of the Sooners' 414 yards.
"He's very fast, explosive, runs with a lot of power and vision," Griffin says, no baseball lingo flavoring his commentary. "He's built like a house and runs like a horse."
The Vikings' offensive woes caught up with them late last year as they lost their last three games to finish 6-10 in Childress' inaugural season. In those three defeats they scored five offensive touchdowns (two while trailing the St. Louis Rams 41-7 in the fourth quarter of the finale) and managed 35 first downs. They scored more than 17 points only seven times.
They were in the throes of a quarterback change, having benched veteran Brad Johnson for rookie Tarvaris Jackson, and leading rusher Chester Taylor took a pounding as the main offensive weapon. Hence the desire for a back like Peterson, who could complement Taylor's power style and maybe take some pressure off the young quarterback.
"I feel like I can make some big plays," the 6-1, 217-pound Peterson says. "I just try to put my legs in a different gear."
After a short absence from training camp while a five-year contract with a top-end value of $40.5 million was negotiated, Peterson arrived and proceeded to dazzle, not just with speed and power but attitude and effort.
"The whole thing with him is that there's always a smile on his face and never a down day," Childress says. "Everybody said to me that the liability part was that he goes too fast, he goes too hard. You know what? He's a violent runner and he's a 'million mile an hour guy' and I sure as heck would rather have to pull the reins on a guy than put a blowtorch under his tail."
Richardson, who blocked for Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson while with the Kansas City Chiefs, can testify to the rookie's high-speed ways. Patience, he says, is a virtue not often found in young runners.
"Adrian is straight downhill. And that's just because he doesn't know any better yet. I have to get out of his way because he'll be on my back in a minute," Richardson says. "You have to learn to allow your linemen to work for you and that's when you start getting home-run runs."
The learning curve should not temper Peterson's overall style.
"His upside is tremendous," Richardson says. "He runs with a mean streak."
If there's a reason to be wary, it is injuries. Peterson started only 22 of 31 games in a career interrupted by a dislocated shoulder his freshman year, a high ankle sprain his sophomore year and a broken collarbone last fall.
"Freak injuries," Peterson says. "I don't look at it as being injury-prone. I look at it as being unlucky."
If he's lucky and he gets a block or two, he could be going, going, gone.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/vikings/2007-08-07-adrian-peterson_N.htm
Is Peterson a home run hitter for Vikings?
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
MANKATO, Minn. — Adrian Peterson may be the right guy in the right place for the right time but is he in the right sport?
There's no question the Minnesota Vikings, who ranked 23rd in the NFL last season in offense, needed a playmaker with some burst. With the seventh pick in the draft, they got one. One, they say, who can hit home runs.
Home runs?
Peterson scored 41 touchdowns in three seasons (and only 31 games) at Oklahoma, set the NCAA freshman rushing record (1,925 yards) and finished as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher. He was so potent a force that he missed seven games in 2006 and still led the Sooners in rushing for a third consecutive year.
The Vikings may crave touchdowns and yards, but home runs dominate the conversation. All the descriptions of Peterson seem to cross the sidelines and head for the comfort of the dugout.
"He's a home-run hitter," says fullback Tony Richardson.
"The biggest thing we saw in him was the ability to hit the home run," says coach Brad Childress.
Peterson sees himself as "a back that can get that home-run shot."
Perhaps he can be captured in football terms by someone who couldn't quite wrap him up on the field. Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin played against Peterson three years ago when Oklahoma beat Texas 12-0 and Peterson ran for 225 of the Sooners' 414 yards.
"He's very fast, explosive, runs with a lot of power and vision," Griffin says, no baseball lingo flavoring his commentary. "He's built like a house and runs like a horse."
The Vikings' offensive woes caught up with them late last year as they lost their last three games to finish 6-10 in Childress' inaugural season. In those three defeats they scored five offensive touchdowns (two while trailing the St. Louis Rams 41-7 in the fourth quarter of the finale) and managed 35 first downs. They scored more than 17 points only seven times.
They were in the throes of a quarterback change, having benched veteran Brad Johnson for rookie Tarvaris Jackson, and leading rusher Chester Taylor took a pounding as the main offensive weapon. Hence the desire for a back like Peterson, who could complement Taylor's power style and maybe take some pressure off the young quarterback.
"I feel like I can make some big plays," the 6-1, 217-pound Peterson says. "I just try to put my legs in a different gear."
After a short absence from training camp while a five-year contract with a top-end value of $40.5 million was negotiated, Peterson arrived and proceeded to dazzle, not just with speed and power but attitude and effort.
"The whole thing with him is that there's always a smile on his face and never a down day," Childress says. "Everybody said to me that the liability part was that he goes too fast, he goes too hard. You know what? He's a violent runner and he's a 'million mile an hour guy' and I sure as heck would rather have to pull the reins on a guy than put a blowtorch under his tail."
Richardson, who blocked for Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson while with the Kansas City Chiefs, can testify to the rookie's high-speed ways. Patience, he says, is a virtue not often found in young runners.
"Adrian is straight downhill. And that's just because he doesn't know any better yet. I have to get out of his way because he'll be on my back in a minute," Richardson says. "You have to learn to allow your linemen to work for you and that's when you start getting home-run runs."
The learning curve should not temper Peterson's overall style.
"His upside is tremendous," Richardson says. "He runs with a mean streak."
If there's a reason to be wary, it is injuries. Peterson started only 22 of 31 games in a career interrupted by a dislocated shoulder his freshman year, a high ankle sprain his sophomore year and a broken collarbone last fall.
"Freak injuries," Peterson says. "I don't look at it as being injury-prone. I look at it as being unlucky."
If he's lucky and he gets a block or two, he could be going, going, gone.