Adrian is impressed by Mikinnon.

[Dirtyswabby]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 42541.html

[Funkytown]

“He’s pretty impressive and there’s not too many guys who impress me like that, especially rookies coming in,” Peterson said.

Coming from the best in the game, that's big time.

[losperros]

Coming from the best in the game, that's big time.

My thoughts exactly. Mikinnon must feel pretty good about who's complimenting him.

[Eli]

Now, is he Percy Harvin impressive, or is he Mewelde Moore impressive?

[Cliff]

Now, is he Percy Harvin impressive, or is he Mewelde Moore impressive?

As a backup RB I'd settle for Mewelde Moore impressive. I liked him.

[Eli]

Peterson's comments brought to mind things he said about Harvin. Hard to imagine McKinnon having anywhere near Harvin's talent, but you don't hear Peterson praising many other players.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Impressive yes. Worth a 3rd, when he really isn't a RB (between the tackles) or blocks, or catches. We have a ton of kids that need to know their role very soon. A football team full of STeamers isn't going to go far.

Still it is good praise and it should be an interesting year.

[Eli]

No offense to Moore, but McKinnon is twice as athletic as Mewelde. That said, Moore was a solid utility back and maybe has twice the skill of McKinnon.

Exactly. "Athletic" is very often meaningless when it comes to performance in a particular sport.

[King James]

True, but what about being a RB? That might be the one position in sport where one could get away with being very athletic with very little skills. You get the ball and you try to run to the end zone.

That's exactly what I was thinking. People get converted into full RBs all the time. Look at offensive linemen, many of them get switched around the line in the NFL level. Many of these WRs were DBs, sometimes even QBs in college. A some of these linebackers were probably safeties in college. The list goes on. The only position were I wouldn't want an "athletic" player is a QB. I would want a guy who has play QB all through college. Not a guy who turn QB his senior year and just so happen to have a great season.

But yeah running backs. The goal is very simple and you really don't need 4 years of college at that one position to be successful at that position. You're not even being asked to do much but find a hole, run through it, and don't turnover the ball. Athleticism is what's needed to cut through that hole fast enough before it collapses and burst to the second level. And All the hard work is being done by everyone else who is doing the blocking for the running back.

[Demi]

But yeah running backs. The goal is very simple and you really don't need 4 years of college at that one position to be successful at that position. You're not even being asked to do much but find a hole, run through it, and don't turnover the ball.

Until you need to set up blocks for a screen, run routes, including beating man coverage or reading the zones, picking up blitzers or at least knowing who you're suppose to block. Yeah, athleticism is great as a runner, which is why Peterson is so good at it, but once you need to use what's between the ears....

[jackal]

McKinnon

You can see his burst and speed watching the Videos of OTA's I don't know about an every down back
but another guy defenses have to be careful of.. in years past our offense didn't have a lot of speed IMO.
Wright, McKinnon, Peterson, Patterson, and Simpson all are fast guys