Adrian Peterson, and Which Running Backs Played With Best Passing Games, Part II

by Chase Stuart on April 26, 2017

Peterson with a rare cameo by a good quarterback.

After a ten-year career with the Vikings, Adrian Peterson is now headed to New Orleans where he will get to play with Drew Brees. It will be the second time Peterson has played with a Hall of Fame quarterback, after Brett Favre’s stint with the team beginning in 2009.

In ’09, the Vikings had a Relative ANY/A of +2.05, easily the best passing game the franchise has produced in the last decade. In fact, the only other time in the last ten years that Minnesota had an above-average ANY/A was last year, when Peterson rushed for just 72 yards in three games.

Most of his time in Minnesota, though, the team’s passing attack has been below-average — or outright bad. For example, in 2012, Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards. That represented 17.9% of his career total, and it came when the Vikings had a Relative ANY/A of -0.94. Overall Peterson has a weighted average RANY/A — i.e., the Vikings RANY/A in each season of Peterson’s career, weighted by the number of rushing yards Peterson had — for his career of -0.52. Take a look.

Year	Team	Rush Yd	% of Car Rush Yd	Tm RANY/A
2007	MIN	1341	11.4%	-0.50
2008	MIN	1760	15%	-0.39
2009	MIN	1383	11.8%	2.05
2010	MIN	1298	11%	-1.65
2011	MIN	970	8.3%	-1.26
2012	MIN	2097	17.9%	-0.94
2013	MIN	1266	10.8%	-0.90
2014	MIN	75	0.6%	-1.25
2015	MIN	1485	12.6%	-0.65
2016	MIN	72	0.6%	0.19
Total			100%	-0.52

Two years ago, I looked at which running backs played with the best passing games. I used the same formula described above, where I calculated, for each running back, his team’s average weighted RANY/A. I have re-run the numbers through the 2016 season for the top 150 leaders in rushing yards.

Rush Yds Rk	Player	Rush Yds	Tm	RANY/A	RANY/A Rk
1	Emmitt Smith	18355	1990-2004	0.32	62
2	Walter Payton	16726	1975-1987	-0.56	132
3	Barry Sanders	15269	1989-1998	-0.06	90
4	Curtis Martin	14101	1995-2005	0.28	66
5	LaDainian Tomlinson	13684	2001-2011	0.62	38
6	Jerome Bettis	13662	1993-2005	-0.18	100
7	Eric Dickerson	13259	1983-1993	-0.47	123
8	Frank Gore	13065	2005-2016	-0.39	114
9	Tony Dorsett	12739	1977-1988	0.85	23
10	Jim Brown	12312	1957-1965	1.15	13
11	Marshall Faulk	12279	1994-2005	0.80	26
12	Edgerrin James	12246	1999-2009	1.73	2
13	Marcus Allen	12243	1982-1997	0.09	78
14	Franco Harris	12120	1972-1984	0.49	50
15	Thurman Thomas	12074	1988-2000	0.59	40
16	Adrian Peterson	11747	2007-2016	-0.52	129
17	Fred Taylor	11695	1998-2010	0.47	53
18	Steven Jackson	11438	2004-2015	-0.70	138
19	John Riggins	11352	1971-1985	0.34	60
20	Corey Dillon	11241	1997-2006	-0.22	104
21	O.J. Simpson	11236	1969-1979	-0.81	142
22	Warrick Dunn	10967	1997-2008	-0.47	124
23	Ricky Watters	10643	1992-2001	0.51	48
24	Jamal Lewis	10607	2000-2009	-0.90	146
25	Thomas Jones	10591	2000-2011	-1.05	149
26	Tiki Barber	10449	1997-2006	-0.10	96
27	Eddie George	10441	1996-2004	0.66	36
28	Ottis Anderson	10273	1979-1992	-0.23	106
29	Ricky Williams	10009	1999-2011	-0.25	107
30	Clinton Portis	9923	2002-2010	-0.03	89
31	Joe Perry	9723	1948-1963	0.14	76
32	Chris Johnson	9537	2008-2016	-0.09	94
33	Shaun Alexander	9453	2000-2008	0.50	49
34	Matt Forte	9415	2008-2016	-0.53	130
35	Earl Campbell	9407	1978-1985	-0.56	131
36	Ahman Green	9205	1998-2009	0.69	34
37	Marshawn Lynch	9112	2007-2015	0.11	77
38	LeSean McCoy	8954	2009-2016	0.42	57
39	Terry Allen	8614	1991-2001	0.01	84
40	Jim Taylor	8597	1958-1967	1.00	17
41	Willis McGahee	8474	2004-2013	-0.41	116
42	Earnest Byner	8261	1984-1997	0.78	28
43	Herschel Walker	8225	1986-1997	-0.32	109
44	Roger Craig	8189	1983-1993	1.53	4
45	Gerald Riggs	8188	1982-1991	-0.50	127
46	Priest Holmes	8172	1997-2007	0.70	32
47	Maurice Jones-Drew	8167	2006-2014	-0.68	137
48	DeAngelo Williams	8096	2006-2016	-0.07	92
49	Larry Csonka	8081	1968-1979	0.47	54
50	Freeman McNeil	8074	1981-1992	0.30	64
51	Stephen Davis	8052	1996-2006	0.26	71
52	Garrison Hearst	7966	1993-2004	0.78	29
53	James Brooks	7962	1981-1992	1.30	8
54	Chris Warren	7696	1990-2000	-0.93	148
55	Terrell Davis	7607	1995-2001	1.02	16
56	Mike Pruitt	7378	1976-1986	0.16	75
57	Michael Turner	7338	2004-2012	0.81	25
58	Leroy Kelly	7274	1964-1973	0.67	35
59	Jamaal Charles	7260	2008-2016	-0.59	133
60	George Rogers	7176	1981-1987	-0.89	145
61	Charlie Garner	7097	1994-2004	0.27	69
62	Rodney Hampton	6897	1990-1997	-0.22	103
63	Antowain Smith	6881	1997-2005	0.04	81
64	Curt Warner	6844	1983-1990	0.23	73
65	Robert Smith	6818	1993-2000	1.19	12
66	John Henry Johnson	6803	1954-1966	-0.41	115
67	Wilbert Montgomery	6789	1977-1985	0.39	58
68	Chuck Muncie	6702	1976-1984	0.94	18
69	Mark van Eeghen	6651	1974-1983	0.58	42
70	Jonathan Stewart	6638	2008-2016	-0.33	110
71	Lawrence McCutcheon	6578	1972-1981	1.37	6
72	Lydell Mitchell	6534	1972-1980	1.02	15
73	Arian Foster	6527	2009-2016	0.53	46
74	DeMarco Murray	6515	2011-2016	0.90	21
75	Wendell Tyler	6378	1977-1986	0.54	45
76	Brian Westbrook	6335	2002-2010	0.69	33
77	Floyd Little	6323	1967-1975	-0.44	120
78	Larry Johnson	6223	2003-2011	0.38	59
79	Don Perkins	6217	1961-1968	0.44	56
80	Ray Rice	6180	2008-2013	0.03	82
81	Neal Anderson	6166	1986-1993	-0.44	121
82	Michael Vick	6109	2001-2015	-0.23	105
83	Ken Willard	6105	1965-1974	0.93	19
84	Deuce McAllister	6096	2001-2008	0.80	27
85	Travis Henry	6086	2001-2007	-0.46	122
86	Calvin Hill	6083	1969-1981	1.07	14
87	Cedric Benson	6017	2005-2012	-0.60	134
88	James Wilder	6008	1981-1990	-0.47	125
89	William Andrews	5986	1979-1986	0.52	47
90	Rudi Johnson	5979	2001-2008	0.57	43
91	Chuck Foreman	5950	1973-1980	1.25	10
92	Larry Brown	5875	1969-1976	1.47	5
93	Steve Van Buren	5860	1944-1951	1.27	9
94	James Stewart	5841	1995-2002	-0.37	112
95	Bill Brown	5838	1961-1974	-0.02	88
96	Rick Casares	5797	1955-1966	-0.13	97
97	Duce Staley	5785	1997-2006	-0.64	135
98	Fred Jackson	5746	2007-2015	-0.87	143
99	Greg Pruitt	5672	1973-1984	-0.38	113
100	Michael Pittman	5627	1998-2008	-0.09	95
101	Pete Johnson	5626	1977-1984	0.48	51
102	Delvin Williams	5598	1974-1981	-0.20	102
103	Joe Morris	5585	1982-1991	0.23	74
104	Reggie Bush	5490	2006-2016	0.48	52
105	Mike Garrett	5481	1966-1973	0.74	30
106	Sam Cunningham	5453	1973-1982	0.28	65
107	Sammy Winder	5427	1982-1990	-0.01	85
108	Darren McFadden	5423	2008-2016	-0.77	140
109	Dick Bass	5417	1960-1969	-0.42	118
110	Jim Nance	5401	1965-1973	-0.81	141
111	Ronnie Brown	5391	2005-2014	-0.32	108
112	Willie Parker	5378	2004-2009	0.61	39
113	Joe Cribbs	5356	1980-1988	-0.07	91
114	Jamal Anderson	5336	1994-2001	0.26	70
115	Hugh McElhenny	5281	1952-1964	-0.02	86
116	Ryan Mathews	5261	2010-2016	0.63	37
117	Natrone Means	5215	1993-2000	-0.17	99
118	Adrian Murrell	5199	1993-2003	-0.92	147
119	Marion Butts	5185	1989-1995	-0.50	128
119	John Brockington	5185	1971-1977	-0.88	144
121	Lenny Moore	5174	1956-1967	1.33	7
122	Ollie Matson	5173	1952-1966	-0.66	136
123	Clem Daniels	5138	1960-1968	0.34	61
124	Emerson Boozer	5135	1966-1975	0.58	41
125	Kevin Mack	5123	1985-1993	0.56	44
126	LeGarrette Blount	5122	2010-2016	0.90	22
127	Billy Sims	5106	1980-1984	-0.20	101
128	Dexter Bussey	5105	1974-1984	-0.17	98
129	Brandon Jacobs	5094	2005-2013	0.28	67
130	Mike Alstott	5088	1996-2006	-0.42	117
131	Julius Jones	5068	2004-2010	0.03	83
132	John Williams	5006	1986-1995	-0.49	126
133	Paul Lowe	4995	1960-1969	1.24	11
134	John David Crow	4963	1958-1968	-0.33	111
135	Tyrone Wheatley	4962	1995-2004	0.25	72
136	Greg Bell	4959	1984-1990	0.05	80
137	Alfred Morris	4956	2012-2016	0.45	55
137	Gale Sayers	4956	1965-1971	-1.35	150
139	Dorsey Levens	4955	1994-2004	0.91	20
140	Ahmad Bradshaw	4928	2007-2015	0.71	31
140	Randall Cunningham	4928	1985-2001	-0.08	93
142	Christian Okoye	4897	1987-1992	0.32	63
143	Lamar Smith	4853	1994-2003	-0.44	119
144	Joe Washington	4839	1977-1985	0.07	79
145	Napoleon Kaufman	4792	1995-2000	0.27	68
146	Robert Newhouse	4784	1972-1983	1.56	3
147	Marion Barber	4780	2005-2011	0.83	24
148	Chester Taylor	4740	2002-2011	-0.77	139
149	Marion Motley	4720	1946-1955	3.12	1
150	Donny Anderson	4696	1966-1974	-0.02	87

With an average RANY/A of -0.52, Peterson has the third-worst RANY/A of any running back in the top 20 in career rushing yards, behind only Walter Payton and Steven Jackson.

What do you think?

Tagged as: Adrian Peterson

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