Cam Akers is done for the season. The Vikings have one of the worst rushing games in the league. Is it time for the Vikings to call up the fourth star eliminated from the current season of Dancing with the Stars, Adrian Peterson?
After years of the run game leading the team's offense, Vikings fans are witnessing what a bad run game looks like this season.
Alexander Mattison was named the lead back after Dalvin Cook's offseason departure but the fifth year back struggled out the gate. Mattison rushed for 155 yards on 39 carries in the opening three games of the season. The Vikings then traded for Cam Akers. The 24-year-old showed some flash but he too was held back by one of the league's worst run blocking offensive lines, rushing for 138 yards on 38 carries before his season-ending Achilles injury.
Mattison is back in the workhorse role with the team still lacking trust in 2022 fifth-round pick Ty Chandler. The list of currently out of running backs is less than inspiring so why not see what 38-year-old Adrian Peterson has left in the tank?
It's only been 702 days since Peterson last took an NFL snap. We know he's still in some shape after his recent four-week stint on DWTS. During a recent guest appearance on Robert Griffin III's podcast, Peterson said, "I can still play. I feel like I have the agility to get out there and outperform a lot of these kids that I see playing today."
At 38, Peterson is fighting against the league's willingness to sign running backs over the age of 30.
In the five season's since he was released from Minnesota, Peterson played for six teams, rushing for 3,171 yards and 23 touchdowns with a yards-per-carry average of 3.9, which was a yard off from his average during his 10-year Vikings career.
Could the big, bruising back be a goal line only weapon for a team that's scored just two rushing touchdowns all season? Both of the Vikings rushing touchdowns have come within the last two weeks, one of which belongs to QB Josh Dobbs.
Peterson was never known for his pass catching or pass blocking so bringing him on the field would signal the team's intent to run.
If the Vikings are going to continue to mount a playoff charge they'll need to help Mattison out in the run game. Whether that's more reliance on Chandler, or the return of Kene Nwangwu, or a free agent signing something is going to have to improve in the run game if Dobbs is going to be able to find success week-in and week-out in Minnesota. Why not take a shot and let Peterson finish his career in the same spot it started?
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