Probably make Baptists of all of 'em. :hihi: Peterson's already great, no doubt. But, largely due to his performance this week, for now, he's just the "next big thing." A few weeks ago, all the talking heads said USC's Bush was the best RB, later it was Cadillac and Brown at AU....No telling who it'll be next week.
Here are the Heisman winners of the last decade. With the exception of one or two, I don't remember any of these players being on the most hyped team for that entire, particular season... 2003 Jason White Oklahoma (12-1-0) Quarterback 2002 Carson Palmer Southern California (10-2-0) Quarterback 2001 Eric Crouch Nebraska (11-2-0) Quarterback 2000 Chris Weinke Florida State (11-2-0) Quarterback 1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin (10-2-0) Tailback 1998 Ricky Williams Texas (9-3-0) Tailback 1997 Charles Woodson Michigan (12-0-0) Cornerback 1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida (11-1-0) Quarterback 1995 Eddie George Ohio State (11-2-0) Running Back 1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado (11-1-0) Running Back 1993 Charlie Ward Florida State (11-1-0) Quarterback
When they said he thought about going into the NFL draft this past year, I thought that was ridiculous. Not anymore.
never said they were the most hyped team yet its one of the most hyped games due to the mac brown drama. name me a few other backs you think are great young backs along with peterson. ya see most people can't because they don't watch many non-media darling games outside their own conferences.
I too was skeptical about Adrian Peterson until I got to watch him play last week. I am no longer skeptical. Barring injury this guy will win the Heisman before he leaves OU. He's a big guy, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone get to the outside on a sweep that fast. He makes it look easy, but don't be fooled. This guy is something special. I think he would be a high 1st round NFL pick if he were allowed to come out after this year. I also think he will lead OU to the NC this season. They could already throw and play defense, and he gives them an instant running game. For A.P., the blocking only needs to be average for him to get his yards.
Hard to say if he's overrated because, frankly, he has a great supporting staff around him: defending Heisman winner at QB, an offensive line that has had all it's starters for the past TWO seasons, an All-American WR...not saying he's not a great player but, c'mon, I'm sure it's a little easier than if he was playing at Tulane or something.
He has tremendous lateral movement when he runs inside the tackles and has to pick his holes and make cuts to avoid tacklers. Most of the Texas game, they ran him to the outside on toss sweeps. He's ran a lot laterally in our previous 4 games. Yes, he is for real. For all the hype that came along with him, he hasn't disappointed one bit. A lot of the recruiting gurus were comparing him to Eric Dickerson coming out of highschool. He likes to lower his helmet and give some punishment. I don't really care for all the Heisman hoopla that is going on. He's ran for over 100 yards in all 5 games so far while sharing time with our starting QB. AD has only started one game this season.
I am jst going to respond to the title of this thread directly..... NO, he is not over-rated. He is so good that if he is on his game OU does not even have to rely on their passing game very much. At first glance you may look at recent OU scores and think "Wow, they are not dominating teams like last year". Well, this is not true. Peterson is so good that they are able to run run run productive long drives and chew away clock. Couple this with the OU defense and OU has no need, yet, to pass a whole lot. Hence, lower scoring by the OU offense.