The Minnesota Vikings have Adrian Peterson back in the fold after his holdout from offseason workouts and he is ready for the new offensive system from Norv Turner with Teddy Bridgewater after missing most of last season and this comes as the team should have a better passing game with Mike Wallace helping to take the pressure off of Cordarrelle Patterson.
Peterson spent the first part of the offseason away from the Vikings and the team was preparing to use Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata if he held out in minicamp. Peterson opted to attend workouts and now that he is back, the team is ready to take the next step on offense after Bridgewater had a strong rookie season. Norv Turner took over the offense last season and it usually takes a year or two for players to get a real hold over a new offensive scheme.
Bridgewater showed that he might be the best QB from the 2014 draft and he did it last year without Peterson in the lineup. Peterson played in one game and had 75 rushing yards and getting him back could be huge for the whole offense. McKinnon and Asiata did a solid job with Peterson gone, but they are not even close to the talent that the future Hall of Famer is and now the Vikings have strong depth at the position.
Peterson will have to adjust to coming out of more shotgun sets and that is why him showing up to workouts is so big for the Vikings. Last season Asiata and McKinnon together ran out of more shotgun sets than Peterson has done in his entire career and that will be an adjustment that he has to make. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Peterson showed "no rust" as he came back to offseason workouts and head coach Mike Zimmer said that Peterson was able to stay in great shape through the offseason.
Peterson's issues with the team were well documented through the offseason, but now he is back and the team has welcomed him with open arms. Peterson was mentioned in trade rumors all offseason and there was talk he would hold out for a new contract, but it looks like all of that is behind Peterson now. McKinnon likely will be the first backup for Peterson with Asiata as the third stringer unless injuries come up during training camp. Last season the team could not get a consistent offense going with the rushing attack lacking Peterson and now the team is expecting to have one of the best RB groups in the league.
Bridgewater is hoping the passing game will open up with Wallace coming in after his trade from the Dolphins. Wallace spoke with ESPN.com and said that this offensive system is a much better fit for him than what he had in Miami, as it's closer to what he used to play in when Wallace was in Pittsburgh. Last season Wallace had 10 touchdowns, but he had just 67 catches for 862 yards and he has not had a 1000 yard season since back in 2011. The team is hoping that Wallace can open things up for Patterson, who struggled in his second year last season.
