By Chris Schad
Adrian Peterson is one of the most feared offensive weapons in the National Football League. Even in a time when running backs are being featured less in offensive game plans, there might not be a single player that dictates the success of their team like Peterson does for the Minnesota Vikings.
The three-time All-Pro has been everything for the Vikings since entering the league in 2007. As a new coaching staff headlined by Mike Zimmer rolls into town, they know they have an advantage that other teams may not have.
However, they also know that Peterson is inching closer to the dreaded age 30 threshold. Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner spoke of a plan to keep Peterson fresh by mixing in a passing game back. Of course, this was without seeing Peterson’s ability to catch a football.
Once minicamp started, Zimmer and Turner started to play with their new toy. After seeing their equivalent of a Corvette catch passes in shorts and a t-shirt, Turner couldn’t help but imagine Peterson running in space and racking up all sorts of receiving yards.
"He's got good hands, I think he's comfortable with the routes that we would ask him to run," Turner said to NFL.com. "It's certainly not the lead part of what we're doing. We threw a screen to him yesterday that was as nicely set up as you could ask for and the linemen got out in front. If we can get him in space like that throughout a game, throughout the season it will help all of us."
Turner’s statements echo what he’s done his entire career. Just like with Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson, he’s done everything that he can to get the ball in the hands of his best player. Obviously, Peterson is the Vikings’ best player. Besides, you can never have enough Adrian Peterson in your offense…
Or can you?
It starts to become bothersome when you see the amount of touches that Peterson would be getting by handling the passing back role. Adding on 50 to 60 catches would mean that he would be handling the ball up to 350 times. By comparison, LeSean McCoy led the league by handling the ball 366 times for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.
Are McCoy and Peterson on the same elite tier for NFL running backs? Absolutely. The difference is that McCoy is three years younger and can handle such a beating. Meanwhile, Peterson has battled through injuries which have included a torn ACL, a sports hernia and his latest groin surgery this spring.
The Vikings knew this coming in and decided to use a third-round pick in May’s NFL Draft to get their passing back in Jerick McKinnon. While he’s extremely raw, they still saw the need to get Peterson a breather back and decided it was more beneficial than filling another weakness such as cornerback or middle linebacker.
This doesn’t mean that Peterson should always stand on the sidelines for passing plays, but if the Vikings use him relentlessly, they could wind up with the same situation that has doomed the careers of even the greatest running backs.
Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writer for Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad.