Washington running back Adrian Peterson has stunned many people with his form this year, at 33 years old.
What’s even more stunning is why he almost didn’t get the chance.
Washington vice president of football operations Doug Williams told Peter King of NBC’s Football Morning in America that the former MVP was a bit of an afterthought, and they only brought Peterson in for a workout after another back turned down their offer of the veteran minimum.
That back? Orleans Darkwa. The former Giants runner thought he was worth more and passed, so Williams was scrambling, and brought two other backs and Peterson in for a workout.
“I don’t know what his workout would have looked like at 23 or 24, but I know what it looked like at 33,” Williams said. “And it was really impressive. . . .
“If we sign Darkwa, we wouldn’t have signed Adrian.”
Peterson only had 17 yards on nine carries in yesterday’s loss to the Falcons, but has been surprisingly productive otherwise. Entering Week Nine, he was fifth in the league with 587 rushing yards, and averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
Darkwa has 1,038 career yards in four seasons, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. He is also unemployed.