Matt Asiata Thought He Could Replace Adrian Peterson For Vikings

It’s always hard to fill the shoes of an NFL superstar and former league MVP. However, Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata feels as though he’s up to the task of assuming the feature back role for the team.

In an article written back in week 2 by the Star Tribune, Matt Asiata discussed the possibility of replacing Adrian Peterson as the Minnesota Vikings #1 running back. His answer as to whether or not he could do it was a bit surprising.

"“Think I can do it? Yes. No doubt in my mind,” Asiata said. “The more experience I got, the better it is for the future. It is what it is. See what the coaches like, and we’ll move forward.”"

Dec 14, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata (44) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Experience is always a great thing for a player, but the differences between the play style of Adrian Peterson and Matt Asiata are quite huge. Peterson was a threat to take the ball to the house on any play while Asiata was more of the short yardage or goal line type runner.

Matt Asiata ended up having a somewhat disappointing season in 2014. Although he scored 9 rushing touchdowns, he only managed to accumulate 570 yards on 164 carries this season. That’s an average of 3.5 yards per carry.

Adrian Peterson has never had an average carry that low in his career. In fact, over the course of his tenure with Minnesota, Peterson has averaged 5.0 yards per carry and before this season he had never scored less than 10 touchdowns per year.

Do you think Matt Asiata did a good job replacing Adrian Peterson as the feature back for the Minnesota Vikings? Do you think Asiata is even ahead of Jerick McKinnon on the depth chart right now? Discuss it in the comments below.

Matt Asiata Thought He Could Replace Adrian Peterson For Vikings

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