Adrian Peterson: Great Player or Over-Rated?

[jtex316]

I think Adrian Peterson is going to be watching NFL on his flat-screen TV by 2012 if he can't stop fumbling.

RB's are a dime a dozen in the NFL. Their life expectancy is extremely short - if you get 5 good years out of an RB, you can consider yourself lucky.

Adrian Peterson has fumbled 20 times I believe in now his (3rd?) year. That's 17 times too many, and I don't even know if that 20 is counting fumbles that were recovered by the Vikings. Also, he hadn't rushed for 100 yards in 9 straight games before the NFC Title Game. So why would any head coach in their right mind hand the ball off to Peterson in a championship game?

You cannot fumble in the NFL and expect to be on an NFL roster for very long. "All Day" Peterson needs to spend "All Off season" learning how to hold on to the football, or his days as a starting NFL RB are over, regardless of how many NFL.com commercials he does. Ask Denver_Bronco how many different 1,000 yard RBs the Broncos produced over the years.

[Sunstroke]

Adrian Peterson has fumbled 20 times I believe. That's 17 times too many, and I don't even know if that 20 is counting fumbles that were recovered by the Vikings.

I got one "believe" and one "I don't know"...is the latter an apology for not researching the stats you're posting, or a way of saying "it doesn't matter who recovers the fumble."

[jtex316]

I got one "believe" and one "I don't know"...is the latter an apology for not researching the stats you're posting, or a way of saying "it doesn't matter who recovers the fumble."

I don't make apologies and I don't have time to research stats for a fan-site message board. It doesn't matter who recovers the fumble, no. If AP fumbles 4 times in a game, but all recovered by the Vikings, is everything all good?

RBs who fumble in the NFL do not last very long, regardless of level of talent, athleticism, etc. Not fumbling the ball is a skill he needs to learn to save his NFL career.

[Sunstroke]

If AP fumbles 4 times in a game, but all recovered by the Vikings, is everything all good?

If AP fumbles four times and all are recovered by Minnesota, how many turnovers did he have?

(cheatsheet answer, 'cause I know you dislike looking things up:  zero)

I don't make apologies and I don't have time to research stats for a fan-site message board.

If you have time to post stats in support of a point, you might consider taking the 30 seconds necessary to actually look up the stats you're referencing. Being an SEO uberguru, surely you have at least some semblance of keyboard skillz...

[Brian Fein]

Agree with jtex here - the recovery is irrelevant.  Its not the point that he fumbles and the ball bounces to his teammate.  If he didn't put the ball on the carpet in the first place they wouldn't have to worry about bounces.

Fumbles can be avoided because recoveries are mostly luck.  The best way to avoid turnovers is not to practice recovery drills, its to not fumble in the first place.  Any RB who fumbles is a liability on the field.  Why is Chester Taylor often the featured back for the Vikings when the game is on the line (go check the recap of that MNF Bears' game).

[Dave Gray]

I wouldn't say that recoveries are meaningless.  I think a fumble running through the middle and a fumble, with the ball correctly tucked to the right side, while running on the sideline, are not the same fumble.  But, I also agree with JTex and Brian, that just because your team recovered, that the fumble doesn't just disappear.

In short, Peterson can't fumble and expect to be on the field.  Even if he's rushing for 50 more yards per game than the next best guy, that turnover is probably worth keeping him on the bench. 

[ethurst22a]

I don't know the stats but I've got a question.

Do you think that Brett Farve coming in this year being "The Man", had a psychological effect on AP? Before Farve got there, the Vikings were more of a running team. What surprised me was how much they threw the ball this year with Farve being the age that he was.

Chester Taylor is more well-rounded than AP.

To me, he clearly seemed disturbed by something that affected his performance. RB's can be divas too.

[Sunstroke]

Fumbling is definitely a problem, but like Dave, I feel that all fumbles are not created equal.

Adrian Peterson has a problem with fumbling...no doubt about it. He needs to fix that area of his game in a hurry, or he'll drop out of that top tier group of RBs and possibly even start losing touches to lesser backs with surer hands.

I remember Ahman Green and Tiki Barber's fumble issues and frustrations near the peak of their respective careers, and hope Adrian can solve his problems the same way they did.

Fumbles aside, there is still only one RB I feel is a better true "feature back" than Adrian, and that's Zippy Johnson of the Titans.

Do you think that Brett Farve coming in this year being "The Man", had a psychological effect on AP? Before Farve got there, the Vikings were more of a running team.
...
To me, he clearly seemed disturbed by something that affected his performance. RB's can be divas too.

Good points, and certainly something to be considered when figuring out why Adrian had issues this year. No matter how fast the legs or how sure the hands, both are ultimately controlled by the brain, and one could put together a helluva talented list of players whose mental issues ultimately prevented them from realizing their true talent level on the field.