Why Peterson is Getting a Raw Deal

When it comes to the Browns and the draft, Cleveland fans are as passionate and knowledgeable as any in the NFL. However, there are times I feel they get blinded by the media's opinions on players. First and foremost on that list this year is Adrian Peterson. The Oklahoma running back was heralded as the consensus player of the year coming out of high school in the state of Texas. And after a stellar freshman season where he ran for over 1,900 yards with 15 td's, those proclomations seemed right on the money. He followed that up with two more 1,000 yd+ seasons with 26 combined td's. Many pundits regarded Peterson as the best player in college. However, heading into next week's draft, AP has seen his stock slowly fall. The main reason is that many people are questioning his durability. They point to some of his injury issues in college and are labeling him "injury-prone". To me it's all junk. In his freshman season of 2004, he missed parts of two games due to injury. In 2005, he missed all or more than half of four games with an ankle injury but still managed to rush for more yards than any other Big 12 running back. And this past season he mised 6 games due to a freak separated shoulder after diving into the endzone akwardly. There is no doubt he has missed his fair share of games, however, to call AP injury-prone is ridiculous. To me injury prone is a label put on players like Fred Taylor, who are always tweaking or pulling hamstrings, groins, etc. Those are the type of injuries that linger for full season. Spraining an ankle or separating a shoulder are freakish contact injuries that can happen to anybody. Furthermore, to somehow think that since a running back has had injuries in college, he will continue to get hurt and miss games in the NFL, is a fallacy. And vice versa. There is little correlation between the two. If there was some sort of correlation, guys like Frank Gore, Willis McGahee and Deuce McCallister should have never been drafted in the 1st place. Gore suffered, not one, but two torn ACL's in college yet started all 16 games last season and played in 14 his rookie year. McGahee severly tore his ACL and other ligaments in the final game of his college career, yet has only missed two games in three seasons. McCallister dropped on draft boards coming out of Mississippi 6 years ago. Except for one season where he missed 2/3rds of the season with a knee injury, Deuce has never missed more than two games in a season. Point being those players, who all had the "injury-prone" label coming out of college and dropped significantly in the draft, are considered three of the top 10 running backs in the league and have not shown any signs of being often inured. On the flip side, Fred Taylor rarely missed a game in college yet is a poster child for nagging inuries. Bottom line is that the pounding NFL running backs take, is just the nature of the league. That's why more teams are going to the two back system. However, to pass on a running backbased on one or two injuries in college, is simply stupid.