The Minnesota Vikings have used star running back Adrian Peterson sparingly in the passing game over the past several years, as Peterson has averaged less than 30 catches a year during the span of his NFL career.
However, new offensive coordinator Norv Turner wants to take advantage of Peterson's athleticism on more than just carries against seven and eight-man fronts. Therefore, AP may see a significant increase in passes thrown his way.
“A big part of that is finding ways for Adrian to not have to run in such crowded areas all the time. He’s going to have to do that, that’s part of his job, he’s the best in the league at it. But if we can get him more space we can take advantage of his great abilities,” Turner said, via 1500ESPN.com and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “He’s got good hands, I think he’s comfortable with the routes that we would ask him to run. It’s certainly not the lead part of what we’re doing. We threw a screen to him yesterday that was as nicely set up as you could ask for and the linemen got out in front. If we can get him in space like that throughout a game, throughout the season it will help all of us.”
Head coach Mike Zimmer has been extremely impressed with Peterson's work as a receiver out of the backfield, echoing Turner's sentiments about the value of having an All-Pro running back with dual-threat capability.
“The way he catches the ball is very, very good, I didn’t know what kind of receiver he was,” Zimmer stated. “I think I’ve seen him drop one ball the whole time [in three days of minicamp]. . . . Obviously, when he’s got the ball in the hands he’s extremely dangerous. I think he caught one out here today on a flat route or a swing route.”
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