Brett Favre Minnesota Vikings

Vikings Season Review – Running Backs

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Bretts_BFF

Happy Groundhog Day from BFMV.com. And welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.

Today we’ll start our off season review of the Vikings position-by-positions needs (one of our readers tells us there is a little game still to be played on Sunday, but we refuse to recognize it). We’ll leave the big question (aka to be Favre or not to be) for a later date and start with the second most influential position on the offense – running backs. Since the arrival of Chester Taylor from Baltimore, the Vikings have had a solid backfield if not a cup-overfloweth backfield with the addition of AP. So it can be said that it has been a while since the Vikings have had any real questions as to who would be their running backs (post Robert Smith, pre Chester Taylor?). This off season, things are primed to be a little different however with the pending free agency of Taylor and no real proven back after Adrian “Butter Hands” Peterson. Let’s take a look …

2009 SEASON
We loved this season. Even with the last game letdown, the season was full of fun, exceeded expectations and national attention. It truly was a wild ride as the bus driver of the Vikings Bandwagon. The RBs played an integral role in that – remember AP’s stiff arm “get out of my way” vs. Cleveland? How about when (almost every time) Taylor came in to spell Peterson and Mr. Twinkletoes himself sliced and diced through the defense for run after run of seven yards (and we asked ourselves “why can’t AP do that?”) And the knock on AP not being a versatile, pass catching player out of the backfield was put to rest as he had a career high 43 catches for 436 yards to go with an All-Pro running game cranking our nearly 1,400 yards and a whopping 18 touchdowns (hello Fantasy Owners!)

On the flip side, fumbles have become a concern with the RB’s (or one RB in particular). But we don’t expect that to be an issue next year as he’ll make that a huge priority in the off season (we have no clue how you make it a priority in the off season other than taking notes from Darnell Jefferson’s tutor in The Program. But he’ll take care of it.

Overall, the Vikings had a very productive season out of the backfield but for some reason everything they did seemed to lack the dominance that fans had come to expect – especially given the best (overrated) offensive lines in the league.

Looking to 2010 Season

AP is a fixture, we know that. And a BEAST. Who will site behind him is the big question. Chester Taylor becomes one of five Vikings to be unrestricted free agents in March. He’s getting up there in age (in running back years) at age 31. So some teams might question his value on the free agent market as a true #1 back. None-the-less expect more than a handful of teams to being vying for his services in the offseason. He’s a proven running who protects the ball. And will still be a better-than-average feature back, especially in an offense that runs a lot of screens. Losing Taylor will be a hit, but not as big of a hit as I would have said one year ago today.

Percy Harvin has solidified his role as the slot receiver for the Vikings. However, he does bring a change of pace to the running game when the coaches opt to use him there. We really liked his explosiveness and speed to the line during the NFC Championship game. He didn’t get a lot of carries last year, but look for his “play making” ability to dictate more touches out of the backfield.

We like Albert Young. He’s been impressive when he gets a chance. He’s a hard runner with a bit of elusiveness. Kind of Mewelde Moore with more muscle. Behind him is perhaps the most famous (or is it most romantic?) practice squad player ever: Ian Johnson.

So, who will Favre be handing the ball off to next year? We’re going out on a limb here and say that Adrian Peterson is the starting back in 2010. I’m going to go out on a less obvious limb and say Chester Taylor will be playing with another team in 2010. The presence of Percy “bowling ball” Harvin would also help to ease the transition.

The running back position – although in transition – is low on the totem poles of “needs” for the Vikings in the off season.

Next Up: Defensive Backs – what to do with our safety’s and without Cedric Griffin