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Comment by jsm386 | Hacker News Reader

Another issue with Peterson is that his yards per attempt have steadily declined: 2007 - 5.6 ypa (2nd among backs) 2008 - 4.8 ypa (5th among backs) 2009 - 4.4 ypa (24th among backs)

In the playoffs this year he really declined (3.6 per attempt)

Source: ESPN ( To qualify, a player must have at least 6.25 attempts per team's games played)

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The drop-off from year 1 to year 2 can largely be attributed to defenses having had a year to figure out how to stop him. His first year he had some huge games simply because defenses weren't prepared for a rookie to come in and dominate like he did.

Year 2 to year 3 is a little misleading because he got a new quarterback and a new offense, resulting in his rushing numbers being diluted a bit. Note that if you add in his 10.1 yard receiving average, his yards per touch are actually up from last year.

I don't think this is necessarily something to put on Peterson. Over the years, the Vikings have added more offensive weapons, notably a better receiving core and aquarterback. With Brett Favre there this year, the Vikings had a passing threat that was lacking with Tavaris Jackson, so Peterson wasn't relied on as much to run the offense (This is similar in San Diego with LT - his role is reduced now that Philip Rivers has become a better qb). I also think that defenses are more prepared for him than in previous years, when he was first breaking out on the scene.

I think a two-dimensional attack should, if anything, increase his efficiency since defenses can't cheat and load the box with eight guys every down.

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