Vikings wait pays off with healthy Adrian Peterson

Filed in archive NFL on May 17, 2007

courtesy VikingsUpdate.com

On draft day, the Minnesota Vikings had to wait nearly two hours for their future to change.

Now, with one report from a team physician, several NFL teams who selected ahead of the Vikings may be feeling pretty sad, while the Minnesota brass is feeling pretty darn good.

The Vikings selected Adrian Peterson, the Oklahoma running back who has been favorably compared to LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshall Faulk, with the seventh pick.

Adrian Peterson is healthy. His once-injured collarbone is healing nicely; Peterson doesn't need surgery, according to the Vikings' team doctor, and he'll be ready for training camp.

This potentially makes Peterson the steal of the 2007 NFL draft. He was ranked as high as number one on some draft boards, prior to the news that he had re-injured his collarbone in the Fiesta Bowl in January.

Before the news of the aggravated injury, most believed the Cleveland Browns would tab Peterson with the third-overall pick. Few teams need a running back more than Cleveland. The Browns passed, though, in favor of offensive tackle Joe Thomas.

When Peterson slid to number seven, the Vikings couldn't grab him quickly enough. Not since Robert Smith was racing by defensive backs in 2000 has Minnesota had a legitimate threat coming out of the backfield.

Now, they have Peterson, who could be the next great NFL runner, and all they had to do was wait.