A team that has two starting quarterbacks has none; a team that has two starting tailbacks has a damn good running game.
The Vikings may have a damn good running game this year.
With Adrian Peterson still recovering from a December 24 torn ACL, Toby Gerhart is getting ready to serve as the starter. If both guys can get it done, the Vikings will be better off for it.
“He’s been looking well,” coach Leslie Frazier said regarding Gerhart, via comments distributed by the team. “He’s practicing well, has great confidence in what we’re doing, what we’re asking of him. He doesn’t seem like a guy who is ready to settle for being a backup running back, which is a good thing. He’s preparing himself as if he is going to have to start against Jacksonville, which is the way we want to see it happen. He’s practicing the right way, so we’ll see how it goes.”
As Gerhart prepares to be the starter, the Vikings plan to use him sparingly in the exhibition opener.
“We’ll get him in there some, but we’re not going to hand it over to him a lot, not in the preseason,” Frazier said. “He’ll have limited reps for sure.”
Peterson surely prefers that, come September, Gerhart will have limited reps, for entirely different reasons. But the smartest move for the Vikings in 2012 could be to use both guys, in the hopes of keeping them healthy.