Although Matt Asiata has taken over the starting running back role for the Minnesota Vikings in the wake of Adrian Peterson’s deactivation, he may need a strong game to keep his job.
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Said to be more of a ‘plodder’, Asiata wasn’t exactly inspiring during Minnesota’s loss to the New England Patriots in Week 2. Of course, in fairness nobody on the Vikings looked very good though it sounds like offensive coordinator Norv Turner is looking for more explosion out of the backfield.
Given that, Turner says he expects to give backup running back Jerick McKinnon more snaps this week and could potentially give he or Matt Asiata more time if one gets hot.
Turner said will use both asiata and McKinnon and might use one more if gets hot hand
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 18, 2014
Jerick McKinnon, who has a Calvin Johnson-like SPARQ score didn’t see much field time last week and what little he did get, he struggled in pass protection. That has been the Minnesota Vikings biggest concern regarding giving McKinnon more playing time and it’s likely the backup has spent most of his week working on his blocking in effort to secure additional run.
For now it appears as if Matt Asiata is still the Minnesota Vikings’ starter but his leash continues to shorten thanks to the freakish athletic ability of Jerick McKinnon.
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