What are Vikings options at RB if Peterson leaves?
There is a lot of speculation swirling around the NFL involving Adrian Peterson’s status as a Minnesota Viking. Peterson is set to make $13 million this year in purple and gold, but has voiced displeasure with the organization and apparently wants out. Whether you believe Peterson will return to Minnesota for the 2015 season or not, the possibility of the Vikings starting running back not being Adrian Peterson is very real.
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The Vikings survived practically the entire 2014 season without Peterson in the backfield, relying on Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon for the majority of the carries. Should Peterson not be on the roster for 2015, one option the Vikings have is to stick with Asiata and McKinnon on the ground. Asiata and McKinnon provided a fairly underrated 1-2 punch last season when both players were healthy.
As a rookie, McKinnon struggled some but overall was impressive as a rookie, finishing with a strong 4.8 yards per carry. McKinnon also had two 100-yard games, running for 135 yards on 17 carries against Atlanta and 103 yards on 16 carries against Buffalo. For the season, McKinnon finished with 113 carries for 538 yards, showing that McKinnon could potentially be a solid starting running back in the NFL. McKinnon’s glaring weakness coming out of college was pass protection. While he did improve on this throughout the season, it’s still a noticeable weakness that can be fixed with experience. Overall, in his rookie season, McKinnon showed plenty of potential as a starting running back with his quick burst and vision, but his pass protection will need to improve for the Vikings offense to be successful consistently when he’s on the field.
Matt Asiata is a completely different style of running back. An elephant at your local zoo is as agile as Asiata. However, he is one of those running backs that rarely loses yardage. If you need three yards, Asiata will get you three. If you need six yards, Asiata will get you three. This makes him an ideal short yardage running back. He was very successful as a goalline tailback last season, scoring nine rushing touchdowns, and all of them were within six yards. Additionally, Asiata is a solid pass blocker and has soft hands out of the backfield, which makes him useful on third downs.
Asiata and McKinnon as a 1-2 punch wouldn’t be a bad starting running back rotation for the Vikings. The “thunder and lightning” combo, if you will, would provide Teddy Bridgewater with a backfield that might not blow anyone away, but it would be serviceable.
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Another option for the Vikings would be to use the draft to find a running back. There’s no doubt that this year’s running back draft class has some serious talent, and if Peterson is no longer on the team, it would be wise for the Vikings to at least look at some of the prospects.
While using the #11 pick on a running back probably isn’t logical, the Vikings could definitely find one of the top running backs in the second round. In all likelihood, either Melvin Gordon or Todd Gurley, the top two running back draft prospects, should fall to the Vikings in the second round. If neither of them does, Ameer Abdullah, Duke Johnson or Jay Ajayi would all be solid selections for the Vikings in the second round. If the Vikings decided to wait until a middle or late round to draft a running back, former Gopher David Cobb or T.J. Yeldon would both be candidates for the Vikings.
Regardless of which player the Vikings would choose to draft, the running backs in this class are all talented enough to provide this team with a trustworthy ballcarrier who could fight for a starting job.
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Lastly, the Vikings could sign a running back in free agency or make a trade for one, although it seem unlikely that the Vikings will trade for a running back. Plenty of names have emerged as possible replacements should Peterson leave the Vikings. Mark Ingram was one name that seemed like a serviceable replacement, but he has decided to resign with New Orleans. DeMarco Murray is coming off of an outstanding season in Dallas in which he led the league in rushing. His price tag would be very hefty, but Murray wouldn’t be a far drop from Peterson. The most realistic option for a free agent running back to sign with the Vikings seems to be Stevan Ridley. Ridley has been Tom Brady’s top running back in New England for a couple of seasons, although this season an injury caused Ridley to miss most of the season. Signing a guy like Ridley would ensure a running back by committee situation for the Vikings, which is something Minnesota hasn’t seen in some time.
It’s about time now to start thinking about how the Vikings would move on from Peterson should he not come back next season. The Vikings were able to maintain the 14th best rushing attack in the NFL without Peterson last season. With a talented young quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater leading the offense, the Vikings don’t necessarily need a dominant ground attack to be successful like they have in the past. Whether the Vikings stick with Asiata and McKinnon, draft a running back, or use free agency and trades to obtain a player, a serviceable ground attack will be necessary to allow Bridgewater to lead this offense to the promised land.