Adrian Peterson

Ht: 6-2 Wt: 211

Position: RB

Date of Birth: 3/21/1985

Class: Sophomore

High School: Palestine HS

(Palestine, TX)

College: Oklahoma

Minnesota Vikings-Adrian Peterson-RB-Oklahoma

The breakdown: Adrian Peterson, like many others in the top 10 is the best at his position. There simply is no other running back in the 2007 NFL Draft that offers Petersons mind-numbing combination of size, speed, and power. At 6’2, 218 pounds with 4.37 speed, the Oklahoma standout has every tool imaginable to be a franchise tailback in the NFL. He’s one of the best power tailbacks I have ever seen, but labeling Peterson a power back is a disservice to him because he also has the speed and agility to beat defenders to the outside edge. Despite having numerous injury problems force him out of several games during his three-year career(dislocated left shoulder, right high ankle sprain, broken left collarbone), Peterson plastered his name all over the Oklahoma record books, grinding out 4,045 yards on the ground, ranking him third in school history in all-time rushing yardage. He was named consensus National Player of the Year by recruiting services such as Rivals.com coming out of high school and he didn’t disappoint. Ever since the kid set foot on campus in Norman, Oklahoma, he generated a buzz of hype that a first-year player in college football hadn’t seen since Maurice Clarett. He danced his way around and bruised his way through defenders, piling up 1,925 rushing yards as a freshman. His freshman season numbers were good enough to earn him second place in the Heisman race, the highest finish ever for a freshman. He also became the first player in school history to eclipse the 3,000 yard mark in two seasons at Oklahoma.

The Palestine, Texas native has been blessed with a combination of size, power, speed, and agility that has rarely been seen in the game of football. His strength lies in his ability to run through defenders, as evidenced by the 1,365 yards he gained after contact his freshman year at Oklahoma. Peterson is also excellent at keeping his feet moving after contact, which plays a key in helping him break so many tackles. He displayed his excellent change of direction and speed to the outside edge more in 2006 and I think you’re going to see him have to use that ability more often. Being a running back in the NFL, his body is going to have to deal with some punishing blows and with his injury history, it definitely wouldn’t be the best advice to keep telling Peterson to punish defenders left and right. He’s going to have to learn that he must shy away from contact at times or else injuries will cut his NFL career short. Everybody wants to talk about his injury history, but I still think Peterson will be an all-pro tailback as long as he learns to take care of his body. He’s too physically gifted not to become a great tailback in the pros. He’ll have to share touches early in his career with Chester Taylor, but that will help him even more so his body doesn’t have to absorb the pounding of an NFL season alone. Another thing he’ll have to work on is ball control, because he fumbled the ball 17 times throughout his Oklahoma career and that is a quick way to get in a coaches’ doghouse if you cough up the pigskin. That shouldn’t be a problem because Tiki Barber had fumble problems early in his NFL career but eventually got them under control to become one of the best all-purpose tailbacks in the history of the league.

A lot of people in the media love harping on Peterson’s injuries, but I think the Vikings shouldn’t worry about them, because injuries happen in the game of football and Peterson is so immensely talented that he’s worth taking the risk. I really like this kid and I think he is going to dazzle NFL fans, players, and coaches alike for many years to come and become an all-pro in the league.

Pick rating: 10/10

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