Talk about name dropping. The Vikings 24-year-old Adrian Peterson continues to have his name statistically included with the most famous running backs in pro football history.
After 36 games in the NFL, Peterson is second only to Jim Brown in average yards rushing per game (103.5 versus 104.3). Peterson has the second highest yards per carry average (5.16) among pro football players in their third seasons. Paul Lowe is first at 5.39.
So far in Peterson’s career he has rushed for over 100 yards in 50 percent of his games, the best percentage in NFL history. Barry Sanders at 49.7 and Brown at 49.2 are second and third.
With 10 more regular season games on the schedule, Peterson is near joining the all-time top 10 rankings for third year players in three categories—total rushing yards, touchdowns and attempts. Have he and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell established a range in number of carries he will have each game this season?
“Oh, no, not at all,” Peterson said yesterday. Still, Peterson, who is averaging 20 rushing attempts per game this season, will receive plenty of opportunities.
Does Peterson think about having his name included with such high past achievers like Brown and others? “I reflect on it from time to time and it always puts things in perspective for me, and just keep me focused on my goals and the ultimate goal,” he answered.
Peterson has said he wants to rush for 2,000 yards and win NFL MVP this season. Of course, a Super Bowl championship is presumably the ultimate goal. He rushed for a league best 1,760 yards last season and leads the NFL now with 618.