It is one of the biggest questions facing the Vikings in 2016. With an aging Adrian Peterson – who turns 31 next month – and a maturing young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, what will the future of the Vikings’ offense look like?
It may be worded a few different ways:
- Should the Vikings be making plans for life post-AP?
- Should it be Teddy’s offense?
Those are some of the questions Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and G.M. Rick Spielman have been peppered with while in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine.
But it doesn’t appear that either is in a rush to change the recipe for what helped the Vikings win an NFC North Championship with an 11-5 record in 2015.
That recipe included an offense featuring a heavy dose of Peterson. He led the league with 327 rushing attempts during the regular season – the fourth time in his career that AP has eclipsed the 300-carry mark in a season.
While Minnesota seemed to carve out a larger role for Jerick McKinnon near the end of the season, Zimmer said he doesn’t foresee much reduction in AP’s workload next season.
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One way for the Vikings to free up some space for Peterson is through a more effective passing game. Pro Football Talk notes that shift could lead to fewer carries for AP and place some more of that on Bridgewater.
“I don’t know if he’ll be throwing the ball more, but really, at the end of the day […] what I want to say is, ‘Man Teddy really took over this offense. He was really in charge of everything he did here. He took charge of the lead,’ ” Zimmer said Thursday. “Whatever that means – if it’s getting us in the right place, if it’s throwing the ball more, if it’s throwing the ball less – just taking charge of this thing. Because it’s going to be his baby eventually.”
