Adrian Peterson is pretty good at football

By Matt Smith

At the beginning of September I sat down around the square table at the Pizza Palace in preparation for my fantasy football draft. This league is no joke. It costs $150 per team, and is a keeper league where you can keep four players from year to year (five by paying an extra 10 bucks and forfeiting your first round pick).
One of the first players taken was a rookie running back for the Minnesota Vikings by the name of Adrian Peterson and I thought the guy that took him was on crazy pills. For one, the Vikings had a good running back in Chester Taylor, for two rookie RB’s rarely come into the league and dominate and lastly the guy is injury prone.
Many rounds later, with Taylor still available, I said “I’ll take Chester Taylor, the starting running back for the Minnesota Vikings.” Turns out I am an idiot.
Peterson is phenomenal.
Vikings coach Brad Childress has been trying to keep the reins on this kid since the season started, but he isn’t going to be able to much longer. Twice this year he has been given just 12 carries in Childress’ run first scheme, but it wouldn’t be smart to not give him the ball.
I know they don’t want to wear him out or get him hurt, but Peterson is treating NFL defenses like I do when I am playing Madden.
He is fresh off a 296-yard game, breaking Jamal Lewis’ record of 295 yards set in 2003. Peterson is the only running back with over 1,000 yards so far (1,036) and he leads the NFL in rushing with more than 250 yards than the second leading rusher (Willie Parker, 768 yards).
What’s amazing is that he has been held under 100 yards three times and still has video game like numbers. He is gone over 200 yards twice, rushing for 224 against Chicago in week 6 and has scored three touchdowns in a game two times.
Not only is he nearly as big as a linebacker, he’s faster than just about anyone else on the field. He is a mix of size and speed that we have not seen since Eric Dickerson.
Dickerson is a couple inches taller and had three pounds on Peterson, but they both have these gallant, long strides and it’s no wonder this amazing rookie is being compared to the former NFL great.
Speaking of the former Ram and Colt, his records are under siege. Peterson is through eight games which means he is on pace to rush for 2,072 yards which would put him just 33 yards behind Dickerson's NFL mark as he had 2,105 in 1984. That record is certainly reachable, but the one you can count on falling (if he stays healthy) is Dickerson’s rookie rushing mark of 1,808 yards sent in 1983.
Peterson could also reach Dickerson’s rookie record of 2,212 yards from scrimmage as he has 1,242 putting him on pace for 2,484. This would also break Marshall Faulk’s all-time record of 2,429.
Peterson also became the 16th running back with a pair of 200 yard games in a season and could join O.J. Simpson and Tiki Barber as the third back to have three such games. Two more of these big rushing performances would place him with Earl Campbell as the only runners with four in a season.
The young man certainly has a long way to go and still has to prove he can do it over the course of the season, but he is definitely off to a good start.
"I set my bar high, because I know anything is possible when you continue to work hard," Peterson told the AP after his record-setting performance against San Diego.
LaDanian Tomlinson is likely to break Emmitt Smith’s career marks for yards and touchdowns, but those records might not last long if Peterson’s career follows the path it is on now. You can’t set the bar much higher than that.