We call Calvin Johnson "Megatron." Why not come up with some type of otherworldly nickname for the E.T. that suits up as Adrian Peterson on a weekly basis? This dude has redefined what it means to come back from a major knee injury and return to form. He did so just eight months after tearing his ACL and MCL in Christmas Eve '11.
Just think about that for a second while I quote Yahoo Sports. The following comes from their immediate reaction right after Peterson's devastating injury late last year.
"Peterson will likely miss all of training camp and the preseason as he'd probably need nine months of recovery time for his knee. There's no guarantee that he'll ever be as good as he originally was."
Well, that didn't happen. Not even remotely close.
Peterson, who had a career-high 1,760 rushing yards in 2008, is currently in pace to shatter that number this season. He has compiled 1,128 yards in 10 games this season, a continuation of this production would give AP over 1,800 yards in 2012. Peterson has now compiled over 100 total yards in each of his last eight games. Moreover, the Minnesota Vikings running back has tallied 629 yards and five touchdowns in his last four games.
More surprisingly, Peterson has just surpassed Arian Foster as the No. 1 overall fantasy running back. Surprising because outlets like ESPN had him as the 10th ranked player at this position entering the season, just ahead of Darren McFadden and Ryan Mathews. Those who picked him up late in the initial round have to be bowing in front of his FatHead on a nightly basis.
Will this production continue?
Peterson has gone up against three top 10 rush defenses thus far this season. He is averaging nearly 130 rushing yards on those three games. That is damn impressive, if you ask me. Minnesota now finds itself with three more games against top 10 rush defenses in its final six games.
Don't expect Peterson to slow down. He has a bye in Week 11, which will help him get his feet back after shouldering a huge load in the first 10 games.
In short, I fully expect Peterson to continue producing like one of the best fantasy running backs in the league.
This is simply amazing considering where he was just eight months ago.