Don Seeholzer of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press has a story today on the difficulties the Minnesota Vikings could face in working running backs Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson into the offense in a way that keeps both men happy. Seeholzer cites recent examples of teams that employed a two-headed running back – the Saints (Bush and McAllister), the Patriots (Dillon and Maroney) and the Bears (Benson and Jones) – and points out that two of the three ended up jettisoning one back (the Patriots dumped Dillon who retired, and the Bears traded Jones to the Jets), while the other, the Saints, used only McAllister as a true running back, employing Bush as more of a combo-threat. So far, the Vikings appear set to use both Taylor and Peterson as ball-carriers, and not concern themselves with deciding who will be the number 1 guy. ESPN analyist Merril Hoge, however, says in the piece that he expects Peterson to wind up being the team’s main running back:
"Adrian Peterson is a special player. It would be hard for the Vikings not to eventually have him tote the mail as the main ball carrier, but I think this is a great way to start now, where he doesn’t have to feel the pressure of carrying the team."
As Hoge points out, it will probably help Peterson’s development to split time with Chester Taylor, especially with Peterson still coming off an injury. At the same time, Taylor, who carried the ball a career-high 304 times last year and clearly wore down as the season progressed, will likely benefit from having someone to shoulder part of the load. At least that’s the rosy picture everyone wants to paint. Unfortunately, egos have a way of messing up these happy scenarios. Seeholzer points out that both Cedric Benson and Cory Dillon initially resented having to share time (fewer carries equals fewer yards equals fewer dollars), and now Dillon is gone from New England, and Benson’s fellow Bear Jones has been dealt. Does this mean Chester Taylor’s days are numbered?
The Vikings are saying what they have to say – that in today’s NFL you need two good backs, they’ll take the pressure off each other, what if one guy gets injured, etc., But that all goes out the window if Peterson proves himself as electrifying a talent as everyone thinks he is. Chester Taylor could well see himself relegated to a third-down/short-yardage-type role – quite a comedown for someone who was signed to the team with the understanding that he would be the man. So far, Taylor has made no public comments about the Vikings’ drafting of Peterson. There’s nothing in Chester’s history to suggest that he would be anything but cool with the new arrangement – of course, happy guys do sometimes become malcontents.
And there’s another thing that needs to be considered – the way coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell work the offense. This brain-trust proved itself woefully ineffective last year at figuring out a way to work the skills of Mewelde Moore into the scheme, even though, every time Mewelde caught a screen, he seemed to get a huge gain out of it. How often did we become frustrated at the sight of Mewelde stuck on the bench while the team fell behind, only to have him suddenly get action – and produce big plays – when it was too late to do any good? The Moore example makes us wonder – are Childress and Bevell clever enough to work both Taylor and Peterson into the game-plan? Fans hoping for some kind of McAllister/Bush-type tandem may be reaching. So far I’ve seen little from Childress/Bevell to suggest a Sean Payton-like level of creativity. Mostly their offense seems plodding and slow to adjust.
Some will point out that Childress had a multi-headed RB attack in his days as Eagles offensive coordinator, with Brian Westbrook, Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter and Dorsey Levens all sharing time. It also needs to be mentioned, again, that Childress didn’t call plays then – Andy Reid did – and that the Eagles had a tendency to forget they had running backs at all and just pass it. This last is not an option for the Vikings, who are trying to cover for a green quarterback, and still have no definite number 1 or number 2 receiver on the squad. With the personnel on-hand, the Vikes will have to be a run-first team – so it’s vitally important that the Peterson/Taylor combo be made to work. I for one hope to see a lot more creativity in the offense next season – swing passes, screens (not only in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach), reverses. Don’t just talk about Peterson’s talent – use it. And get Chester Taylor out in space too, where he proved himself more than proficient.
The Vikings picked up a dynamic talent when they drafted Adrian Peterson. I just hope this doesn’t turn out to be like handing a blind man the keys to a Ferrari.