There is a reason why teams have 53-man rosters and 46 players active on game days. The other two are Barry Sanders and Walter Payton.
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From his den in Huntsville, Alabama, Onree Jackson will quietly root to see Jacoby Brissett under center when he watches New England host Houston on Thursday night.
“That’s Purple Jesus, ” said wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson. When comparing the careers of the three running backs, Hillman has more yards per season and more yards per carry than both McKinnon and Asiata.
“There were no additional injuries or issues noted in or surrounding the knee joint during the surgical procedure”, the Vikings noted, contradicting a report that Peterson also had a torn lateral collateral ligament. One game in, it looks like Bradford could be an upgrade.
The Vikings also could be without running back Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season. Abdullah hurt his left foot on a 24-yard run in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Titans.
Unless they can prove that losing Peterson is actually a boost to their ground game - it won’t be - Minnesota’s offense will change from one built around running to one that relies on Bradford’s arm.
In the two years since, Peterson had taken the job back and, in 18 games, Asiata has rushed just 39 times. There’s nothing eye-popping about those numbers, but you can win with that kind of quarterbacking; the Vikings did it previous year. He doesn’t seem to have that anymore. Those are not Peterson-like numbers.
Secondly, Peterson is simply too expensive now.
With no guarantee Peterson plays another snap this season and the odds dropping the Vikings pick up the option, it doesn’t make much sense to try to bridge the gap with their old offensive approach.
Riddick caught 80 receptions for the Detroit Lions in 2015, his third year in the league. “[I’m] doing it with faith and optimism”, Peterson said.
Now the offense will use a running back by committee, with shifty Jerick McKinnon getting the start, thumper Matt Asiata spelling him and the recently signed Ronnie Hillman there for insurance. At least for now, anyway. However, this doesn’t automatically mean that the Vikings will get a replacement running back. I think he is a skilled runner and receiver, and can pose some matchup problems for a lot of defenses. In fact every drive but one, the one we got the punt blocked on, that was the only drive that started past the 25 yard line. The Vikings must make a call on his contract about two months after that. I know, that’s a ridiculous statement on the surface, but stay with me here. To me, it’s a credit to the effort that they’re going to the football with. According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Peterson suffered what’s known as a bucket handle tear of the meniscus, and the expected recovery time following surgery is a minimum of three to four months, and could take as long as six months for a full recovery.
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And that just stinks.
