The Redskins will host free agent running back Adrian Peterson on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Washington is in serious need of backfield depth, especially after losing presumptive starter Derrius Guice to a torn ACL. Meanwhile, Samaje Perine is expected to miss at least a week with an ankle injury, and Byron Marshall could be sidelined for a month with his own ankle issue. The Redskins also waived/injured running back Martez Carter earlier today, leaving them with Rob Kelley, Chris Thompson, and Kapri Bibbs as their only health backs.
Guice was expected to handle early-down work for the Redskins, and that’s a role Peterson can conceivably still handle. However, the 2017 campaign wasn’t Peterson’s finest, as he averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on 156 rushes between the Saints and Cardinals. That was the second-lowest figure league-wide among backs with at least 150 carries, while Peterson also finished 46th among 47 RBs in Football Outsiders’ DVOA, meaning he wasn’t efficient on a per-play basis.
At his best, of course, Peterson is a Hall of Fame-caliber player, and he managed more than 1,400 yards on the ground as recently as 2015. His pass-game deficiencies aside, Peterson could give Washington a Guice replacement, one capable of handling running downs before ceding to Thompson on passing plays.
The Redskins worked out fellow running backs Orleans Darkwa and Jamaal Charles on Sunday, but it doesn’t appear Washington is in a hurry to sign either player, per Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Like to see AP play one more year just because hes a future HOF that defined an era.. That said, hes just a cycle back at this point, with a game or 2 up his sleeve.
Better than Rob Kelly, worth a timeshare with Thompson and co.
Biased of course but this is the best RB left on the open market if Demarco is truly retired. AD can still be a top 15 RB. Showed a bit of that last year behind a ho hum line in Arizona. Washington’s line is much better. Put him and Perine together.
Makes sense for both sides. Unless AP wants to wait for another injury. But that may be risky on his part.
There’s no possibility of Alex Smith succeeding without run support. Washington needs to pull the trigger on a trade instead of pursuing castoffs that at best can only be a temporary fix.