What if’s are often times an irrelevant thing to think about but often gets people wondering. On Sunday, September 2nd the Minnesota Vikings traveled to St. Louis to take on the Rams. The Vikings would eventually prevail 34-6 making the Mike Zimmer lead squad a force to be reckoning with the rest of the season. The unfortunate disaster would then occur watching the teams star player Adrian Peterson to be suspended for what looked like the remainder of the season. Could Minnesota’s season have been much different with Peterson? I believe so.
The hiring of offensive coordinator Norv Turner made the offense potentially dangerous from the get go. Turner is partially responsible for the multiple championships of the 90’s Cowboys and those dangerous Chargers teams in the early 2000’s. Could the 2014 Vikings have had the potential to be a dangerous offensive team under Turner? Did Peterson have the potential to have a LaDainian Tomlinson type season running behind one of the better offensive lines in football? More importantly, could Cordarrelle Paterson’s season turned out much better? I believe yes to all three of those questions. What would the Cowboy’s season look like if DeMarco Murray got suspended? How about Pittsburgh’s without Le’Veon Bell? Peterson absolutely has a similar impact to his team compared to Bell and Murray.
As of today, the Vikings enter the season 3-6 since the Peterson suspension. Tuesday’s grievance hearing for the star tailback most likely ends his departure from the team after this season. Peterson’s fantasy impact going forward this season looks minimal, as they will most likely see what they have in rookie tailback Jerick McKinnon out of Georgia Southern. The Vikings had the potential to be the 2013 version of the Kansas City Chiefs but now that is all a what if.
