Who's got the best set of running backs?

[JohnRandle]

Well any back field that includes AP is tough to beat. The other two guys be lucky to see any carries with AP ahead of them and if AP went down.....I would say you be in a world of hurt!

AP did go down, 2 seasons ago and Gerhart had a 5 yards avg while spelling him.

 

[JohnRandle]

Gerhart is like Riggins used to be. You need 4 yards, he'll get you 5, you need 6 yards, he'll get you 5.
But there's no doubt the guy can play against anyone.

 

[Hothvictim]

Well any back field that includes AP is tough to beat. The other two guys be lucky to see any carries with AP ahead of them and if AP went down.....I would say you be in a world of hurt!

Especially if he wants to get 2500 yards like he claims he can get this year. With that many yards, there is not much ball left to go around. With Ponder as QB and new WR's, running will be option 1, 2 and maybe 3.

 

[dude82]

Especially if he wants to get 2500 yards like he claims he can get this year. With that many yards, there is not much ball left to go around. With Ponder as QB and new WR's, running will be option 1, 2 and maybe 3.

I understand that players always want the ball in their hands and are confident that they can do something with it when they get it, and maybe I'm reading too much into it, but what do you think it says about Peterson's confidence in the combination of Ponder and Cassell (whether one of them wins the QB battle and remains the starter the whole year or they switch at some point during the season) that he wants the ball often enough to get 2500 yards? It took him 348 carries to get almost 2100 yards last year, which is roughly six yards per carry. If he averaged roughly six yards per carry next year, he'd need about 417 (give-or-take a few) carries to get 2500 yards. He's just begging to get hurt again if he wants to carry the ball that often.

I'd say that, for his long-term health and for the sake of the Vikings' future, he shouldn't get anywhere near that many (417) carries, and I don't think the Vikings will be stupid enough to give him that many. What's scary is that he ran the ball almost 350 times last year and the team still threw almost as often as it ran, so it was a pretty balanced attack, so his runs did seem to come within the flow of the offense, even if it didn't always seem like it. Still, if I'm a Vikings fan, as exciting as last year's run at the record was, I don't want him coming anywhere near 400 carries this coming season. He was lucky that he didn't get hurt running the ball as much as he did coming back from ACL surgery, especially given how quickly he came back from it. I don't know why the Vikings would want to risk it by increasing his workload even more this year.

 

[Hothvictim]

I agree. I think the problem is that they don't have a great QB and young (but promising) WR's that will take some time to mature. I just suspect that they will concede to the pressure to make it back to the playoffs and will overuse AP because they have no other option. If anybody can get 2500 yards, AP can. I really like AP and how he handles himself but the team really needs to protect the player in this case. They would be better served to use their backups a little more often then last year.

 

[Hothvictim]

I also think that the Seahawk's need to use the backups (Turbin and maybe Christine) a little more this year as well so that we can keep Lynch as fresh as possible for the playoffs because of the cumulative pounding he takes and gives. This past year we were lucky in that there were a couple blowouts that allowed him to rest some but even so, he still had 315 attempts.

 

[dude82]

I also think that the Seahawk's need to use the backups (Turbin and maybe Christine) a little more this year as well so that we can keep Lynch as fresh as possible for the playoffs because of the cumulative pounding he takes and gives. This past year we were lucky in that there were a couple blowouts that allowed him to rest some but even so, he still had 315 attempts.

Agreed on both counts and as was pointed out, neither team is thin at running back after their starters. There's some depth there on both teams and I believe that both teams will utilize the quarterbacks in the running game as well, just like they did last year, relieving even more pressure on their respective backfields. I believe that Harvin will get some carries for us, which should also help from our standpoint.