Adrian Peterson is 3,063 yards from running his way into the top five of the NFL all-time leading rushers list.
It’s a long way to go – and probably a couple of seasons away – but Peterson is likely going to be passing plenty of high-profile names as the weeks pass.
Peterson’s 432 yards this season, good for seventh in the league (Matt Forte leads the league with 507 yards), have already been enough to pass Eddie George, Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis and Tiki Barber on the all-time rushing list, 1500 ESPN notes.
LaDainian Tomlinson, Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith make up the top five, with Tomlinson the man sitting 3,063 yards ahead of Peterson.
Peterson is 23rd on the all-time list entering Sunday’s game at Detroit, where he needs just 22 yards to pass Ricky Waters.
Detroit ranks 26th in the NFL against the run and Peterson gashed them for 134 yards on 29 carries in Minnesota’s Week 2 victory over Detroit.
“I’m a totally different player, a better player than I was in Week 2 when I played those guys,” Peterson said this week, per ESPN. “I’m even more excited about that. I don’t know what they’re thinking over there, but I know what I’m thinking, and I don’t feel like my best foot was forward when we played those guys last.”
The Pioneer Press has a story about how this week’s Vikings-Lions game might be one of the last in which fans can watch Peterson and Calvin Johnson, who was picked five spots ahead of Peterson in the 2007 draft, still play against each other at a high level. Both Peterson and Johnson turned 30 this year.
