The running back position is being devalued throughout the NFL, but Adrian Peterson would like to be the man to reverse that trend.
The Minnesota Vikings back told Dan Pompei, for Sports on Earth, he wants to "beat down the things they are saying about the running back position."
Those things being said are that most backs are interchangeable players not worth big contracts who will see a precipitous crumbling of their production as they age.
Another sign of the diminished value of the position is the fact that a running back hasn't been taken in the first round of the NFL draft the past two seasons. Peterson believes that fact reflects more on the talent in the draft rather than on the state of the running back position.
"We haven't had a good back, a must have guy, come out of college in a couple years," he said. "That's what's missing. You get a guy who comes out who is like Marshawn Lynch ... you'll definitely want to bring that guy in."
While it's good for the Vikings that Peterson wants to carry the torch for all his position peers -- a motivated Peterson is a scary Peterson -- even if he shattered the running record and played until he was 40, teams still wouldn't view the position differently.
Peterson -- who ran for 2,097 yards after ACL surgery -- is the exception, not the rule.
As salaries for quarterbacks, tight ends, receivers and defensive backs go up, the running back salaries will go down. No amount of beat-downs from Peterson will change the alleged slanders against his position when players like Joique Bell and Khiry Robinson prove they can handle loads just as heavy as a first-round pick.
In the latest episode of the "Around The League Podcast," the guys discuss Rob Gronkowski's expected return to action and Cordarrelle Patterson's potential rise this season.
