NFL Draft Rumors: Minnesota Vikings want to draft RB to take load off of Adrian Peterson
By Josh Hill
The NFL Draft is right around the corner and we are starting to hear more and more dark horse rumors about teams taking prospects they otherwise haven’t been closely mentioned with over the last months. The San Francisco 49ers are being linked to top quarterbacks, the St. Louis Rams are all over the place and now the Minnesota Vikings are linked to a position they already have filled with the best player who plays it.
According to a report from the Pioneer Press, the Vikings are eyeing a running back to help take the load off of Adrian Peterson and to complement him in the backfield.
While this seems like it could anger Peterson, who is the very definition of a work horse running back, it makes a lot of sense in preserving him as long as possible. It’s been a sticking point with Vikings fans that Peterson’s best years are being wasted on a team that doesn’t deserve his talents and drafting a running back to help him out should keep his legs fresher than if he were to continue working alone.
The only thing about drafting a running back is the Vikings appeared to be high on Matt Asiata, but the tandem of Toby Gerhart and Adrian Peterson was a successful tandem and adding a rookie back like Tre Mason or even Terrance West could give the Vikings explosive options in the backfield.