Fantasy Football 2012: Purple Jesus Walks (Adrian Peterson)
Fantasy Football 2012: Purple Jesus Walks (Adrian Peterson)
By Muntradamus
BEAST DOME NATION.
Let me paint you a picture. It’s the third round, you still have a vacant roster spot at your RB position, and Mr. Adrian Peterson himself is still on your draft board. What do you do?
Why You Should Draft Him:
The Vikings offense is going to be much better this season. Christian Ponder is a year more mature, and the passing game should come much easier to him. All he really has to do is keep defenses modest and not allow them to stack the box. Between Percy Harvin’s speed, and the emergence of Kyle Rudolph at TE, I believe the Vikings passing game will be good enough for 250+ Yards a game through the air.
So now that the passing game is more secured, let’s talk about the problematic offensive line. They fixed it. By adding Matt Kalil from USC in the 1st round, and Geoff Schwartz who was a monster at University of Oregon, and under the radar with the Panthers. Those two additions alone should make the offensive line ready to create some holes.
But here’s what makes Adrian Peterson so beautiful. It does not matter who his offensive line is, he is just that good. With a terrible Vikings team last season, he had 13 TDs in 12 Games with over 1100 total Yards. If he played 4 more games, which does not even include the game where he got injured last season and missed the whole second half. We could have seen a 1600 total Yards, 17 TD season. And now the Vikings offense is even better, and another year experienced.
You could be scared about the Torn ACL, but this guy is a freak of nature. He broke his collarbone in as a Junior in college, and then started the Fiesta Bowl game to rush for 77 yards and a TD. AP heals quickly. When asked if he were allowed to play Week 1 would he play. He responded that he would play Week 1, and be at 100% healthy. Even if Week 1 were today.
Why You Shouldn’t Draft Him:
Coming off of a Torn ACL is no joke. Coming off of it when he injured it towards the end of the regular season is even worse. It is usually the second season after it is injured where players usually return to full strength. The Vikings may not even have him start week 1,2, or 3.
The Vikings offense even though it is improved, they are still one of the worst teams in the NFL offensively. Chrisitan Ponder is on nobody’s fantasy radar.
The offensive line although it is improved, it still is probably below average when comparing to most of the NFC teams.
The Vikings will be losing a lot of games this season, which will result in a lot of 2nd halves with little production from AP.
The Muntradamus Debate:
Adrian Peterson vs. Matt Forte: IF AP plays week 1, I would rather own AP. Forte is great, but the addition of Michael Bush on the Bears roster is no joke. Ask Darren McFadden owners.
Adrian Peterson vs. Ahmad Bradshaw: Easily I will take AP. AP is a BEAST and could put up points any week. Bradshaw is a bit inconsistent and although he has the job to himself, David Wilson could be a surprise at some point this season.
Adrian Peterson vs. Trent Richardson: I think Richardson has bust written all over him this season, I will explain why in the RB Busts section that comes out next week. AP will easily have a better season than the rookie who is hyped to be as good as AP.
Final Thoughts:
I want to wait and see if AP is going to play Week 1. If he definitely does, he is worth grabbing in round 2 this season. If you can get him in round 3, it would be a steal, even if he misses a couple of game. He always has the potential to be the #1 RB in fantasy football, and he was the #1 pick four seasons in a row in most leagues. This year he is falling to a bargain price, and there are plenty of Sleeper RBs to grab for good insurance.
Muntradamus is a Fantasy Sports Expert who specialize in Fantasy Football/Baseball/Basketball. He is currently in his first season as a Pro on FantasyPros where he is the only expert to have Adam Dunn, Mike Aviles, and Wilin Rosario in his top 20 at each position. Muntradamus not only leads many to championships with his great advice, and outlooks into the future. He is also consistently on the top of leaderboards on DraftStreet. In August he will compete in a $250K MLB tournament that he qualified for.
Munts, I think Richardson will be okay, definitely not a bust. I’ll wait to see what you say before I start that debate. I’m in 3 leagues, will be 4 before the season is over. But 1 is a keeper and the rest are against guys I’ve played with for the pass 3/4 years. Anyway, in the keeper league my keepers are Forster and MEGATRON!, which I think is good great base for a team (ohh this year we get to keep just 2, will increase to 4 next year). I can just about go any way I want as I have 2 essential pieces. Would you draft a QB, another rb/wr or te?
In the other leagues, Forster and most of the “stud” RB’s will be gone. Would you pick MEGATRON, if he’s on the board? And after him or if he’s not there, who would you want? Would you pick Charles and MaGahee, an then come back and pick up stafford or newton if he’s there? I’m thinking I would stop looking to get the top 5 players at any position, other than MEGATRON, got to have him. I would pick 2nd and 3rd players as they will be more available people and it avoids having to fight for players that if you pick 8 to 12 most are gone, although I like that 12th spot. So I would pick Magahee, McFadden, Peterson, Charles, wr: MEGATRON, Andre, AJ, Decker, Demariyius, Julio. Something like that. Would you draft like that?
Rev
To be able to keep both Arian Foster and Megatron is incredible. You have possibly the #1 RB, and the #1 WR in fantasy football.
Definitely pair your Megatron and Foster with a star QB. If you can get Tom Brady then you can start the victory parade now. Not really, but your team is BEASTLY.
J. Charles is a 3rd round value RB at best in my opinion. Peyton Hillis is looking great this camp which means TDs for him.
McGahee you can grab after round 3. Right now he is very low on people’s minds because of his lack of TDs last season with 4. He should be great, Terrell Davis type numbers.
Out of the players you listed, this is how I rank their value:
RB:
McFadden – 1st round
McGahee – 3rd round
Peterson – 2nd round
Charles – 3rd round
WR:
Megatron – 1st round
Andre Johnson – 2nd Round
Julio Jones – 3rd round.
AJ Green – 2nd Round
Decker – 4th round
D.Thomas- 5th round
The best strategy is to go QB 1st round.
WR 2nd Round.
RB 3rd Round.
WR 4th Round.
RB 5th round.
You can end up with a player such as Shonn Greene in the 5th round at RB.
Feel free to ask more questions as they come.