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GhostOfPoverty
Well-Known Member
Let's be brutally honest about players in our team's history that we think were among the most overrated, whether it be specifically by the fan base itself or among fans in general.
1. Adrian Peterson - between his suspension in 2014 and a few injuries, Adrian Peterson had 7 very good/great seasons. His last truly exceptional season was in his 2012 MVP season. He did get a rushing title as recently as 2015, but if you look closely at the weekly stats of that season, you'll see that he fell off about midway through that year after compiling some silly high rushing stats to start the season off. He was always very one-dimensional as an RB, and was only very useful running out of the I-formation - couldn't run out of the shotgun, and couldn't be relied upon as a pass blocker or receiving threat. In a lot of ways, he held his team back over the years just as much as he carried them. Don't get me wrong, he was a generational physical talent and had some amazing seasons, but I wouldn't even necessarily take him as a top 10 all-time RB. Meanwhile, there are Vikings fans who call him top 5 or even 3 GOAT who will get rustled if you question that ranking for him. For much of his career, you would expect 0-2 yard gains on the vast majority of his runs, then he'd pump his stats up with a few 20 yarders and a 60-80 yard dagger.
2. Daunte Culpepper - I think a lot of people, especially non-Vikings fans, forget just how bad this guy was most of the time. He only ever had 3 legitimately quality seasons, and he proceeded to flop as soon as the Vikings traded Randy Moss in 2005. He then blew out his knee several games into that season, and never came close to recapturing his old form again. That injury didn't help matters, but I think it gets a lot more of the blame for his lack of success after the fact than it should. Plus he was a turnover machine, 149 TD passes/106 INT, 34 rushing TD's to 102 fumbles. That's 183 scores to 208 turnovers total. Not exactly the stats of someone you'd think of even as a "good" player overall.
1. Adrian Peterson - between his suspension in 2014 and a few injuries, Adrian Peterson had 7 very good/great seasons. His last truly exceptional season was in his 2012 MVP season. He did get a rushing title as recently as 2015, but if you look closely at the weekly stats of that season, you'll see that he fell off about midway through that year after compiling some silly high rushing stats to start the season off. He was always very one-dimensional as an RB, and was only very useful running out of the I-formation - couldn't run out of the shotgun, and couldn't be relied upon as a pass blocker or receiving threat. In a lot of ways, he held his team back over the years just as much as he carried them. Don't get me wrong, he was a generational physical talent and had some amazing seasons, but I wouldn't even necessarily take him as a top 10 all-time RB. Meanwhile, there are Vikings fans who call him top 5 or even 3 GOAT who will get rustled if you question that ranking for him. For much of his career, you would expect 0-2 yard gains on the vast majority of his runs, then he'd pump his stats up with a few 20 yarders and a 60-80 yard dagger.
2. Daunte Culpepper - I think a lot of people, especially non-Vikings fans, forget just how bad this guy was most of the time. He only ever had 3 legitimately quality seasons, and he proceeded to flop as soon as the Vikings traded Randy Moss in 2005. He then blew out his knee several games into that season, and never came close to recapturing his old form again. That injury didn't help matters, but I think it gets a lot more of the blame for his lack of success after the fact than it should. Plus he was a turnover machine, 149 TD passes/106 INT, 34 rushing TD's to 102 fumbles. That's 183 scores to 208 turnovers total. Not exactly the stats of someone you'd think of even as a "good" player overall.