Adrian Peterson Named "Most Indispensable"

Well, LeSean McCoy certainly isn't going to like this very much.

NFL.com has put together their list of the most "indispensable" offensive players in the league, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody that's paid attention over the last two or three years, Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson is the top name on the list.

Despite what Shady McCoy seems to believe, Peterson is, quite simply, the best running back in the NFL. He is also the Vikings' offense. And if Minnesota turns to rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater early in the season, that latter point will prove even more crucial.

I talked to Peterson yesterday on my SiriusXM show, "Schein on Sports," and the 29-year-old is excited to be part of Norv Turner's offense; Peterson specifically cited how Minnesota's new coordinator "creates space and matchups" for his running backs. Peterson also expects to be more involved in the passing attack. Scary thought.

See, in this whole thing with Peterson and McCoy, a thing that a lot of people have cited to McCoy's advantage is his ability to catch the football. However, people have this tendency to forget that in the one season that Peterson had the benefit of truly elite quarterback play (2009), the man caught 43 passes and averaged over ten yards a reception. It's not that Adrian Peterson can't catch the ball out of the backfield. . .he simply hasn't been asked to very much.

As Adam Schein points out in his discussion of Peterson in his article, Norv Turner has gone on record as saying that he wants to get the ball to Peterson more frequently in space. I would assume that this would mean more "swing" type passes and. . .Bud Grant help us. . .more screen passes as well. It certainly beats the heck out of the "catch a ball three yards from the line of scrimmage with your back to the defense and get taken down right away" passes that Peterson has seemed to be most targeted on the past few seasons.