Many people consider Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to be the best running back in the NFL and one of the most explosive runners of all time. The fact that he came back so strong after tearing his ACL has a lot to do with that, but LeSean McCoy doesn’t believe that makes him the best. Shady thinks the No. 1 spot belongs to him.
McCoy has said several times in the past that he is the league’s best back. When a reporter asked him again on Monday if he feels he is a superior player to AP, McCoy almost seemed annoyed.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he said after practice, per CSNPhilly.com’s Reuben Frank. “Especially the last three years. Check the numbers. You’re a numbers guy, check the numbers.”
McCoy made the same argument last month, placing an emphasis on the last three seasons.
“The last three years?” he said. “I’ve been All-Pro first-team twice. I never leave the field. I block. I catch. I never leave the field. I don’t have anybody do my job. I do it myself. Tons of credit goes out to Adrian Peterson. I’m a big fan of his, for sure. But I feel I’m the best.”
When Peterson was asked about McCoy’s comments, he said they made him laugh and he doesn’t even think McCoy believes what he was saying. McCoy insists he wasn’t joking at all.
“I don’t know if he’s joking or what,” McCoy said. “I don’t know how to take that. I play the game and it speaks for itself. I don’t know what that meant. I don’t understand what he was getting at.”
Here’s the argument McCoy can make against Peterson — yards from scrimmage. Peterson racked up “just” 1,437 total yards from scrimmage last season, whereas McCoy totaled 2,146. AP has never been much of a threat in the passing game. McCoy, on the other hand, has played in some pass happy offenses and has great hands.
That said, McCoy isn’t really doing Peterson any justice when he concentrates on the last three years. AP tore his ACL late in the 2011 season and still somehow managed to rush for over 2,000 yards the following year and come incredibly close to breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
It’s impossible to compare backs in two completely different systems. I think we can all agree that any team in the NFL would love to have either Peterson or McCoy. Age not considered, you can probably flip a coin at this point.
