Rhett Ellison could fill in for Jerome Felton blocking for Adrian Peterson
By Mike Dyce
The Minnesota Vikings are without fullback Jerome Felton for the start of the 2013 NFL season. In Adrian Peterson’s monster season last year Felton played a huge role. Felton will be out for first three weeks of the season serving a suspension and ESPN Stats & Information found out an interesting stat that shows how much that could hurt the Vikings offense.
From ESPN Stats & Information:
"Peterson averaged 6.9 yards per carry with Felton on the field and 4.6 yards per carry with him off the field last year. He ran from a two-back set on 235 of his 348 carries, and Felton was the other man in the backfield for 201 of those carries."
The good news is it seems like he might have a quality replacement.
"Rhett Ellison was effective as a run-blocker last year; Peterson averaged 5.95 yards per carry on 117 rushes with him on the field, though Ellison split his time between lining up as a tight end and a fullback. The Vikings could also use rookie Zach Line as a lead blocker."
Head coach Leslie Frazier also hinted that John Carlson could fill in as well.
“We’ll still be in some two-back situations on Sunday, and we think those guys are capable of getting the job done,” Frazier said.