Jared Allen Makes Peter King's Midseason All-Pro Team; Adrian Peterson Doesn't?!

Before I start, please keep commenting on Ted's stadium story and sharing your opinions on the matter. The legislators are really hosing this one up, and the possibility of our favorite team leaving its home state just took a big ugly leap forward. But since all the stadium talk simply gets too depressing for me after a while, I thought I'd provide a temporary distraction with actual football news.

Peter King just released his Midseason All-Pro Team and I'm happy to report that the Minnesota Vikings are represented among the players that King considers the very best in the league at their position. Jared Allen was pretty much a no-brainer selection since he leads the league with a whopping 12.5 sacks through only half a season. He has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks all year and was a big part of the Vikings' victory over the Panthers on Sunday.

While it's nice to see Allen get the credit he deserves, another Viking is curiously missing from King's squad. Adrian Peterson was passed over in favor of Matt Forte as King's All-Pro running back.

To be clear, AP's snub is not as egregious as it seems to be at first glance. The All-Pro team is much more exclusive than something like the Pro Bowl rosters. King chooses the best from the entire NFL, not just the best from each conference. He also picks three wide receivers and only one running back because he feels (correctly in my opinion) that those numbers more accurately depict how an actual NFL team lines up these days.

The fact that he chose Forte is certainly defensible to a degree--just take a look at his stats so far this year compared to AP:

While Peterson has found the end zone seven more times, Forte's receiving numbers are much better and he's getting more yards per touch. As King's article points out, Forte is on pace for more yards from scrimmage than Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson had during any single season in their primes.

But that doesn't mean I have to agree with King's pick. For my money, AP is still a cut above every other running back in the NFL and it's not really that close. Forte definitely is a bigger threat catching the ball right now, but the Carolina game (5 receptions for 76 yards) showed that Peterson will get more involved as a receiver as he and Christian Ponder become more comfortable with each other.

What do you think? Did Peter King get it right or should AP stand for (Midseason) All-Pro? Let us know in the poll and in the comments.