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Despite a season where he failed to rush for over 1,000 yards (for the first time in the five seasons he's been in the NFL) and suffering through a couple of injuries, Adrian Peterson's peers have still recognized him as the best running back in the National Football League.
On the final show of the NFL's Top 100 of 2012, where they revealed their top 10 players, the Minnesota Vikings' star running back finished at #8 on the list. Yes, that's a five-spot drop from where he was last season, but given the circumstances that I detailed above, it still shows exactly the level of respect that opposing players still have for Adrian Peterson.
If you want to watch the highlight package that the NFL Network put together for Peterson at his spot on the list, you can view it right here.
Strangely, after having no players appear in the first 80 spots on the list, the Vikings were one of a group of teams that had multiple players in the top 20. They had two players in the top 20 spots (Peterson and Jared Allen) as did the New Orleans Saints* (Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham) and the San Francisco 49ers (Justin Smith and Patrick Willis). The Baltimore Ravens placed an amazing four players in the top 20 spots on the list. . .all on defense (Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed).
Congratulations to Adrian Peterson on his placement on this year's list.