New Orleans Saints: Is Adrian Peterson worth a fantasy draft pick?

By Rebecca Mills | Sep 3, 2017

NEW ORLEANS, LA - AUGUST 26: Adrian Peterson /

With Adrian Peterson’s role on the New Orleans Saints unclear, should you bother using a draft pick on him or wait to pick him up later?

With football season almost here, a lot of fantasy football leagues are hosting their drafts. Most players usually decide to pick up running backs in the first two rounds and Adrian Peterson has become a mainstay there. Now with the New Orleans Saints, is Adrian Peterson actually worth drafting or should you go another route?

When Peterson was in his prime, he was a fantasy darling. He would put consistent double-digit points up and dominate the competition. He was a must-own in any type of league and was coveted just as high last season. He was derailed by injury, and didn’t make an impact on fantasy beforehand.

Looking back at last season, Peterson was a shell of his former self. Not counting his missed games, Peterson failed to even produce five points per game. He only appeared in three games and averaged two points a game. After being released by Minnesota, it was unclear where Peterson would end up before he settled on the Saints.

Fast-forward to now, Peterson is 32 years old and sitting behind Mark Ingram. Ingram is the obvious choice to pick, but there are pros and cons to drafting Peterson. The biggest con is we don’t know what Peterson’s role will be. If he picks up where Tim Hightower left off, he’ll be getting a decent amount of carries and scoring chances.

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The other con against Peterson is his age. Although early reports were optimistic, his outing against the Texans left a lot to be desired. He finished that game with six carries for 15 yards, averaging around 2.5 yards per carry. Not exactly the kind of stats fantasy owners was hoping for, sadly. It’s only preseason, but fans have been anxiously waiting for his debut and it didn’t live up to the hype.

The other con I see towards drafting him is the number of running-backs ahead of him. Years ago, we would have clamored for a chance to have Peterson. Since then, a new crop of running backs has taken over including David Johnson, DeMarco Murray and even Ezekiel Elliott, despite his suspension. It’s a risky move to draft an older RB especially with the other options out there.

There are definitely cons, but some pros as well. There’s a chance Peterson will end up being the starter. It’s a long shot, but Ingram isn’t totally secure as the starter. If he was, then the team wouldn’t have Peterson. If Ingram would go down, then Peterson is the easy choice for the starter.

As mentioned above, Peterson and Ingram could be splitting the backfield. Ingram will get the majority of the carries but Peterson will have his fair share too. He’ll have some chances at scoring whether it be via a carry or reception. Week 1 should hopefully answer all the question about where he stands.

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Drafting Peterson is a gamble, no matter what. Too many factors are playing against him so maybe hold off. If you really want to draft Peterson though, you could get him at a steal. Getting him in between rounds 6-8 would be solid. If not, holding off until after Week 1 and picking him up as a free agent works too.

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