"Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you go and do something like this. . .and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!!"
-Harry Dunne, Dumb and Dumber
Well, after FootballOutsiders crapped all over the Vikings' wide receivers and quarterbacks, they've finally decided to say something nice about some of our offensive personnel, ranking our RB corps 6th in the NFL.
With three intriguing backs and the return of an impressive offensive line, the Vikings figure to be running the ball plenty this year. Given how bad the Vikings are at the quarterback position, Chester Taylor, Mewelde Moore and Adrian Peterson figure to get their chances if the Vikings are ahead or behind. As often happens, Taylor's production per play dropped when he went from a Baltimore committee to the lead role in Minnesota. Having Peterson, this year's top rookie running back prospect, means Taylor can return to sharing the load, which suits him better. While former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress has begun to develop a team in the image of his former employer at wideout, Andy Reid never had a running back tandem quite like this.
The other three NFC North teams were ranked 20th (Chicago), 27th (Detroit), and 32nd (Green Bay, whose running backs are so bad that FO didn't even mention any of them by name and talked about Brett Favre instead).
Sounds pretty accurate to me. . .no other team in the division can even come close to matching our talent or depth at the RB position. Even better is that with the continued improvement of the offensive line and the defensive situations of the other divisional teams, I don't see anyone in this division stopping any of them, either. This team should be able to run the football when they want and where they want against anyone they want.