Everyone has their own opinion about this subject. Who is better, Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson? This is my unbiased take on it.
Speed- Chris Johnson is the unofficial fastest man in the NFL. Adrian Peterson is no slouch when it comes to speed but you can’t compare him to Johnson in this aspect. Advantage Chris Johnson
Turnovers- Adrian Peterson is notorious for his butter fingers. He has 20 fumbles in his NFL career or about 7 fumbles a year. Chris Johnson on the other hand, in two NFL seasons, has 4 fumbles. Advantage Chris Johnson
The Big Play- Chris Johnson had 29 runs of 20+ yards and 7 of those were 40+ yards. Peterson on the other hand had 15 plays of 20+ yards and 3 of those were for 40+ yards. These stats are only for the 2009 season. The thing is Peterson has acheived this type of stuff in the past. Draw
The O-line Factor- It is a running backs job to gain yards after he passes the line of scrimmage. Before that it’s all up to the O-line. Thus lets see which line gave up the more negative rushes. The Titans O-line gave up 46 negative rushes. The Vikes O-line gave up 51. Also consider that the Titans rushed 32 more times that the Vikings. The advantage is given the the RB with the worse O-line. Advantage Adrian Peterson
Blocking- Pro Football Focus gave Chris Johnson a -2.3 blocking rating. Adrian Peterson got a rating of 1.7. Peterson was exactly 4 points better. Advantage Adrian Peterson
Recieving- Johnson caught 7 more passes than Peterson in the 2009 season. This difference is because the Vikings already have 3 great targets in Rice, Harvin, and Shaincoe. The Titans just have Kenny Britt. Peterson isn’t even the 4th option on the team and that not his fault. They both averaged 10.1 yards per catch. Draw
Intangibles- Johnson is currently holding out on the Titans untill he gets a new contract. If you ask me he seems pretty cocky and I know Peterson would never hold out on the Vikings. He is too much of a team player. In Johnsons defense, he was picked later than Peterson thus he earns less money. Johnson should really shut up and play like Peterson. On the other hand remember Peterson had his ‘little’ speecing incident. I don’t blame him at all for the Adrian Peterson day incident that pissed of Chilly. Advantage Adrian Peterson
I’m giving 2 points for an advantage and one point each for a draw.
Chris Johnson- 6 points Adrian Peterson- 8 points
Johnson had an amazing season but it was still just one season. As of now, Peterson will most likely fumble less next year, Peterson is slightly better.