Adrian Peterson is the face of the Minnesota Vikings franchise. He has been their best offensive producer over the past few seasons thanks to a total lack of a passing game. As the team continues to switch quarterbacks each season, Peterson has been carrying the offense on his shoulders. However, his future has come under fire recently as Minnesota realizes they are wasting the best running back in the league. General manager Rick Spielman worries the team might be too late on Peterson.
Peterson has come within a few years of breaking the single-season rushing record because he is talented and because he registers the most carries of any other back. In 2012 he put up 348 rushing attempts. In 2013 he downsized slightly to 279. That is a lot of carries for a running back coming off his seventh season in the league. Spielman admits that the Vikings have wasted the talents of Peterson thanks to their unbalanced offense.
"The sad part about it is we wasted the opportunity with one of the league's premier running backs," Spielman said, via ESPN.com. "He's getting to the point where you don't have to give him the ball 50 times a game for 16 games. Adrian's the face of our franchise, but Norv has a history of having two backs to keep him fresh, because I think it's very important as you go through the season that they're still strong in Week 16 and they're still strong when you get into the playoffs."
The Vikings will attempt to take some of the workload off Peterson in the coming season. After trading Toby Gerhart, the No. 2 spot is left to Matt Asiata and that is not going to get the job done. The Vikings have several options they can take here. The team could try and make a trade for either LaMichael James or Mark Ingram. James and the 49ers are on the outs and the team is reportedly quietly shopping him before the draft. James has just two seasons on him but was never used to his legs are fresh and could be a quality second option to Peterson. Ingram is in a contract year the Saints would gladly hand him off at the right price.
The NFL Draft is not great for running backs. No one is first round option and might not be a second round option either given the position's value. The team could draft anyone from Carlos Hyde to Tre Mason and still get the same amount of production.
