Who do you think is the best? As electrifying and totally allsome as CJ is, I still think I'd rather have Peterson on my team. I dont' know though, it's really close in my mind.
I would take Johnson based on what he has done this year, less fumbles and even more speed. But it's not like you would turn down either being on your team.
I still think AD will end up being the more durable of the two as time goes on. It'll be interesting when Favre has to retire again how the Vikings will retool their offense. Defenses have to scheme for two types of Tennessee offense: the straight ahead ground game and the spread out VY game. If Johnson ever goes down for whatever reason, Tennessee might end up with a worse offense than anyone.
CJ is putting up insane numbers but I'd still take Peterson hands down. On 3rd or 4th and 1 Peterson is the guy I'd want to hand the ball off to
I liken this to the old argument of Emmitt Smith vs. Barry Sanders, with AD being most similar to Emmitt and CJ being closer to Barry. All those running backs had unique skills, but which one was ultimately more useful? Emmitt would always push forward for 4 or 5 yards on a given play and would only break big yards if someone failed to tackle him. Same with AD. Barry and CJ both have those dancing moves in the backfield, waiting for the 80 yard score. While the second pair of backs might be more fun to watch, it's also a drive-killer sometimes if you don't have a QB (and Barry never did) who can pull you out of the 3rd-and-8 holes that dancing sometimes gets you into. It's why CJ alone can't carry the Titans, but Peterson almost carried Tavaris Jackson all the way last year.
when Earl came out of college, I read an article that said Earl would make Houston a winner, but would make Dallas a dynasty. People claim Barry would have done so much better had he played for Dallas. I disagree. Dallas was not designed for a Barry-type runner. Dallas had a better QB and receivers. I doubt Barry would have done as well as people seem to believe
As to Peterson or Johnson. I would go with Johnson. So far, in college and Pro, I am not convinced with AD's durability.
that is adrian's deal. get him in the open field and he will run over you and/or juke you out of you jock..... but finding the small hole on 3rd and 1? that has never been his specialty, and to be honest, i'm beginning to think he is just not that good at it. not saying he isn't an awesome back. just saying at some point you have to look at all of his no gains/losses and start to wonder why that is. we have several years of data to look at.
