Teddy Bridgewater like Tom Brady, says Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson compared Teddy Bridgewater to Tom Brady, and it’s actually not a crazy comparison.

Adrian Peterson is good at uttering quotes that get people talking. Recently Peterson spawned a gazillion blog posts and talk show segments by saying the Vikings can win the Super Bowl this year. He also set tongues wagging and fingers tapping by saying he can play until he’s 40 if he wants to (but he’s not sure he particularly wants to).

Not content with opening those particular cans of worms, Peterson did it again on Friday by making a comparison that some are going to find silly if not downright crazy.

According to Adrian Peterson, Teddy Bridgewater equals Tom Brady?

On Friday, Peterson talked to PFT Live about what he expects from Bridgewater in his third year. AD offered a brief breakdown of Bridgewater’s career so far, then said he thinks Bridgewater will improve in year three and offered up this explanation as to why (via PFT):

"“He reminds me of a Tom Brady because Tom Brady is great at those mediocre passes,” Peterson said. “Those short passes and midrange passes and that’s exactly what Teddy does as well. He’s the type of guy that needs the receiver that runs routes and that’s at a specific location that you’re practicing. So I feel like with the additions that we’ve made to the offensive line and of course me envisioning what I’ll be able to bring to the offense as well I think that’s going to make his job a lot easier. With that he’ll feel more comfortable and he can really get back there and just play his game. So I’m expecting big things from Teddy this year.”"

Is this just Peterson being his usual old talker-generating self or does he actually make a good point? Obviously it’s a little dangerous to compare any quarterback, especially one as young as Bridgewater, to a future-Hall of Famer and multiple-Super Bowl winner like Tom Brady. However, if you get past that somewhat questionable name-drop, I think Peterson makes a very good point.

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Basically what Adrian’s saying is that Bridgewater possesses plenty of accuracy in short and intermediate routes, and that’s where he is going to make his money. But it’s not just about Bridgewater being accurate, it’s about receivers running crisp routes and blockers giving him time to make the reads and deliver the ball.

As Peterson correctly points out, this is how Tom Brady makes his money too. There was a time when Brady was known for his deep ball of course – notably when he had Randy Moss on-board – but Brady doesn’t require a deep weapon in order to run the offense. He needs good blocking and receivers who know where they’re supposed to be, and then he’s able to deliver the ball.

Of course Bridgewater has one advantage Tom Brady doesn’t have: the presence of Adrian Peterson in the backfield. Last year at times that didn’t seem like much of an advantage, as Peterson struggled to integrate into the Vikings’ spread looks, but with some tweaks to the offense courtesy of Pat Shurmur and another training camp of work those kinks should get worked out.

So before you go having a knee-jerk reaction about Peterson’s Bridgewater/Brady comparison, consider what he’s actually saying. No, Peterson is not saying that Teddy Bridgewater is as good as Tom Brady or ever will be. He’s just using Brady as an example of a quarterback who does certain things well that Bridgewater, if some other things get worked out, may be able to also do well.

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I’m sure some will get hung up on the Brady name-drop and use Peterson’s quote to generate more cheesy talkers without really considering the substance of what Peterson is saying. That’s just how some folks go about their business.

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