NFL Draft: Greatest pick from each franchise’s history: Minnesota Vikings, RB Adrian Peterson
Pick: 2007 NFL Draft, 1st round number 7 overall
Stats:
- 14,820 rushing yards
- 118 rushing touchdowns
Awards:
- 7 time Pro Bowler
- 4 time First Team All-Pro
- NFL MVP
Some players are legends but Adrian Peterson is considered an icon. While most teams prefer to ease their rookies into the mix at a slow pace, it was essentially impossible to do that with Peterson. The seventh overall pick in the 2007 draft brought the same smash-mouth football that he used to dominate at the University of Oklahoma to the Minnesota Vikings.
Peterson destroyed defenders in his first year with 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns. He picked up his first Pro Bowl nod and by year two was an All-Pro.
It may sound hyperbolic but no one appeared to be as determined as Peterson on the field. Adversity was just another day at the office. In 2011, Peterson received a career killer for backs when he tore his ACL.
From there, all he did was bounce back the following season with a career-high 2,097 rushing yards and took home the Comeback Player of the Year and the league MVP.
Peterson’s 11,747 rushing yards won’t be touched anytime soon as it ranks number one in Vikings history, 4,000 more yards than second-place Robert Smith. Peterson did it all in his time as a Viking, besides winning the Lombardi. Other than that, his status in Vikings history is essentially untouchable.