Adrian Peterson failed to make Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 101 players in the NFL, and that’s kind of dumb.
Was Adrian Peterson one of the top 101 players in the NFL in 2015? According to Pro Football Focus, the answer is no.
According to me, Pro Football Focus is full of beans.
Of course Adrian Peterson was one of the top 100 players in the NFL last season. How could the man who led the league in rushing yardage while averaging 4.5 yards-per-carry not be one of the 100 best players?
Yes, I know Peterson fumbled a lot last year. I know he had trouble as a pass blocker. I know he slowed down as the season progressed and perhaps overall he wasn’t as great at breaking tackles as he has been in the past.
So last year Peterson wasn’t the best player in the NFL like he was in 2012. He wasn’t one of the top ten players in the NFL as he arguably has been since his rookie season. Maybe he wasn’t even one of the top twenty players in the NFL.
Certainly he was at least one of the top 50 players in the NFL. Vikings center Joe Berger placed #40 on the list for gosh sakes.
Does anyone really think Joe Berger was that much better as a center last year than Peterson was as a running back?
Even if you think Peterson had an off-year for him, he was still the most productive running back in the NFL. He was still a feared player who forced defenses to make adjustments.
Was it Peterson’s fault the Vikings had a bad offensive line last year outside of top-40-man Joe Berger? Was it his fault they couldn’t find a passing game to open things up for him?
Next: Should Vikings look at Mettenberger?
Yes, Peterson looked horrible when the Vikings tried to go to the spread. Yes, he struggled in some third down situations and had to be yanked.
All that being said, does anyone truly believe Peterson was not among the 100 best players last year? Does anyone think he deserved to be downgraded all the way out of the top 100?
Such nonsense.