When Peterson Comes Marching In

Written by Sam DeCoste

After two months of waiting on the open market, Adrian Peterson has finally found a new NFL home. Many anticipated it could be somewhere like New England, or New York, or Tampa. But he has signed with New Orleans.

The 32 year old running back signed a two year contract with the New Orleans Saints, worth seven million dollars.

Coming from Minnesota, Peterson was one of the league's best running backs of the twenty first century in his prime. But he is not in his prime anymore. After leading the league in rushing in 2015, Peterson struggled to stay on the field the next season, only playing in three games, rushing for 72 yards on 37 attempts. He had an abysmal 1.9 yards per carry.

In Peterson’s prime, Peterson was the bellcow running back who would have 20-30 attempts per game and run through the I Formation. That is not how the Saints run their system. The Saints run shotgun for the majority of their plays, and they tend to air it out more often than not. Saints running backs don't get many opportunities to carry the ball. Even so, it is not as if the Saints are filling a need with this signing. Mark Ingram ran for over 1,000 yards last season, in the best season of his career. Adrian Peterson will have to earn his reps, considering the Saints have solid depth and quality at the position already.

Also, Peterson will be lining up behind the best quarterback he's ever had, and one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Future Hall of Famer, Drew Brees, has thrown for over 5,000 yards in three of the past five seasons. He is seemingly unstoppable in the Superdome when he gets clicking. And for the Saints, the running back position is heavily utilized in the passing game. Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower don't necessarily shred defenses running the ball, but they do catching it out of the backfield. In this system, I don't think Peterson will particularly excel. He is not known for his contributions in the passing game.

With all things considered, it is hard to argue that this is a good fit at all. But then again, nobody knows how to come back from injury or prove his doubters wrong better than Adrian Peterson.

It will be interesting to see how Peterson does in this new system. And he will get an early chance to show his face to his old fans in a new uniform. The Saints visit the Minnesota Vikings in Week One of 2017, on Monday Night Football. The NFL schedule makers never disappoint.

Photo credit: https://athlonsports.com/nfl/5-potential-landing-spots-adrian-peterson-2017