Toby Gerhart Nominated For FedEx Ground Player Of The Week

Not to slight this award in the least but, there’s not enough room in his trophy room to put this in given all the high school & college honors he’s received. My point is……. IF he’s given opportunity on a FT basis, this could just be one of many awards he gets before he’s done in the NFL. But, he ONLY plays significant times when AP is down. That’s not gonna work once again when AP comes back from his injury. The Vikings are in a tough place becasue after next season, TG’s contract is up and he is NOT a benchwarmer or fill-in kind of back. He’s probably gone and will go to a team that will play him as the featured back. So, do the Vikings offer him a nice package extension now (not knowing how AP will come back) or do they wait and see? If AP comes back strong (I sincerely hope he does) then it stands to reason that TG will go elsewhere in 2013. After all, so far at least…….he’s proven he can be a featured back………given the chance. Obviously, the Vikings have more worries that this, but it does pose some sort of dilemma for them.

Toby would even sign a nice extension to play (I mean not play) behind Adrian Peterson. He is averaging just under 5 yards per carry this year, has proven he can catch the ball, is consistent for 20+ carries per game and has the Vikings longest running play of the year. Equally importantly, he is consistently ripping off 8 – 12 yard runs. It was nice to see the Vikings let him have the benefit of a fullback yesterday rather than run him in a pure single back set as they have done often earlier in the year. Give the guy a hole, and he will go places.

Been sayin’ it all year long but it is nice to see Toby get a chance and deliver.

There are alot of decisions to be made this off season and keeping or trading TG WAS not a priority, but that dynamic may have changed too. The ONE thing I can predict with a fair amount of certainty and that is this. TG belongs in the NFL as a starting RB. Not FB….but RB. Godspeed to AP in getting back, but if he comes back stronger than ever, TG will most likely opt to go somewhere else come contract time. He could re-sign with the Vikes for huge dollars and ride the bench, but that’s not his style………. I know this kid………….HE WANTS TO PLAY. The funny thing is you can just see his confidence building each time he has a great run. He was not a fluke sitting at the Heisman table and he is NOT a fluke in the NFL. All he needs is the chance to carry the load and he will carry a team (any team) on his back. HE IS THAT GOOD and you haven’t seen nothing yet……….provided he can stay healthy.

I have been and will continue to be a completely unapologetic Toby fan………………..but you guys are right there with me!! MEGA THANKS. I am so sick of the “AD runs against a 9 man box” argument. And the style arguments. AD has the rep and the moves but Toby is the the real deal. He is bigger and almost as fast as AD………..and check out his vertical jump and his agilty scores from the NFL combine. This guy is an athlete……….who would otherwise be playing center field somewhere (not 3rd base, not 1st base) on a diamond. I watched him at close hand during his years at Stanford and know what he can do. He has always been underrated. Most teams in college wanted to recruit him as a fullback………..despite having the second highest rushing yardage of any high school player in the county…..EVER. He got better at Stanford each year, just as he is getting better at Minnesota as he plays more. Heck…….he caught 14 passs his whole senior year at Stanford so people thought he couldn’t catch (but also explains his fumbles last year after the catch)??!! The guy is a center fielder!! He had 8 catches alone a few weeks ago in one game.

None of this is to denigrate AD but be fair to Toby. He may be a slightly different kind of back but he is averaging more yards per carry than AD this year (in a year that was considerd a very good one for AD) and and has shown the ability to break runs. Advanced NFL Stats lists Toby as the #15 running back in the NFL based on production (AD is #8). I have no clue what they do but just some objective input. The guy is a starting running back in the NFL………….who is just warming up.

The VIkings DO have a a lot of issues to deal with and Toby is probably not at the top of the list. Which is too bad. Having given AD a huge contract BEFORE they knew what Toby could produce has really locked the Vikings in. AD has limited trading value now given his injury and $$$ and the Vikings would look stupid to trade Toby with a complete unknown lingering as to AD’s condition next year. Which means they will probably do nothing and only make any moves with respect to Toby next year (either extend his contract and play him or trade him/let him go).

Also, don’t forget than any running back for the Vikings these days is playing with a lot of handicaps. Weak offensive line, limited QB threat, often playing from behind all impact a running back’s performance. Seen in that light, Toby’s numbers are incredible.