Pierre Thomas vs. Adrian Peterson (1 Viewer)

Shakflinz

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I'll start by saying that I don't necessarily believe one is a better back than the other. Main reason is because Thomas hasn't been given the chance that Peterson has in terms of carrying the football, but here are some interesting stats I've found on an article I stumbled upon.

Disclaimer: Most of these stats are based off of a fantasy football rating, but you can still definitely discern the correlation between the two.

  • Peterson 5.0 yards per carry, Thomas 4.7 ypc. Two of the better yards per carry averages you will find in the NFL.
  • Thomas 0.95 TD's per game, Peterson 0.91 TD's per game. Peterson is known as a "TD-machine", however Thomas is actually the more likely to score a TD when both get 10+ carries in a game. Most all of Peterson's TD's come from rushing, Thomas about 1/3rd from receiving.
  • Peterson 119.7 yards per game (rush+rec), Thomas 100.7 yards per game. Again, 2 of the better you will find in the NFL as both rushing and receiving weapons.
  • Thomas 0.84 PP-ATT (FF points per attempt, attempts = carries+receptions), Peterson 0.78 PP-ATT. Both Thomas and Peterson have had a success ratio of scoring Fantasy Points per "touch" or attempt. Thomas has produced more Fantasy points per touch over Peterson...Thomas just doesn't "touch" the ball as often. This is based on a traditional scoring system, the gap widens in PPR
  • For PPR PP-ATT, Thomas has an amazing 1.01 FF points per "attempt", and Peterson 0.87 PP-ATT. Thomas averages scoring over 1 point every time he touches the ball via run or reception (in games with 10+ carries).
  • Peterson 17.4 overall FF PPG (traditional), Thomas 15.8 FF PPG. Peterson slightly better per game Fantasy scoring, but in these 10+ carry games Peterson still gets 25% more carries than Thomas does. Peterson with 20.3 carries a game average to 15.5 for Thomas.
  • Peterson 19.3 overall FF PPG (PPR league scoring), Thomas 19.0 FF PPG. Almost identical when you get a point per reception (PPR).


  • Thomas 10 TD's (rush+rec) in 8 games = 1.2 TD's per game (in games with 15+ carries)
  • Peterson 35 TD's (rush+rec) in 37 games = 0.9 TD's per game (in games with 15+ carries)
http://fantasyfootballmetrics.com/Player_News/Content/RB-Peterson-vs-Thomas-2010.htm


I absolutely cannot wait to have him back in our line up!
Pierre is the type of back that can take control in the 4th quarter and finish a game while keeping our lead intact.

We haven't seen that with Ivory & company, which I'm sure can attribute to some of the close games we've experienced down the stretch...
Not a knock on Ivory, Betts, or Jones; but Pierre just performs at a higher level in the second half.

I'd expect to see a huge improvement in our running game with Ivory's & Thomas' strengths being utilized.

Any thoughts?
 
The biggest difference between the two is break away speed (Peterson definitely has the edge), pass catching ability (PT by a long shot) and ability to remain healthy (Peterson by a long shot). PT will never be the back that Peterson is mainly because he can't stay healthy, but he definitely has the skills to be a great RB if his touches are limited.
 
The biggest difference between the two is break away speed (Peterson definitely has the edge), pass catching ability (PT by a long shot) and ability to remain healthy (Peterson by a long shot). PT will never be the back that Peterson is mainly because he can't stay healthy, but he definitely has the skills to be a great RB if his touches are limited.


I do agree to some extent, but I'm not too sure health is the biggest factor.

At the beginning of this year, Pierre had 41 games under his belt, while Peterson had 46. The biggest difference between those games was that Peterson was seeing more touches because of the offensive scheme in Minnesota.

In essence, what I'm trying to say is that, at least I believe, it's more fair to say that PT will never be the back that Peterson is mainly because he will never be in a scheme that's dedicated to giving him 30 touches a game.
 
The biggest difference between the two is break away speed (Peterson definitely has the edge), pass catching ability (PT by a long shot) and ability to remain healthy (Peterson by a long shot). PT will never be the back that Peterson is mainly because he can't stay healthy, but he definitely has the skills to be a great RB if his touches are limited.

I wouldn't say Pierre has a huge edge as a receiver. Similar to the argument that Pierre isn't given enough chances as a runner, Peterson isn't given the same chances as a receiver.

IMO Peterson is way tougher to cover out in space, and he would be ridiculous in an offense that spreads it around like ours. Both as a runner and as a receiver.
 
Have you ever seen Adrian Peterson run?

There's no doubt, Peterson is an amazing runner with unbelievable talent and break away speed. At first glance, it may seem foolish to even compare the two... Heck, it probably is foolish, but...

I'm just simply stating that we've also got something special with PT, and pointing out how well he performs with a limited amount of carries.

He's essentially performing at the same level AP would have performed with the same limited amount of carries.
 
Have you ever thought if that if Thomas could run as well as Peterson he would get MORE touches? Yeah. I love Thomas, but he's not Peterson.
 
As of right now I think it should be Thomas vs. Ivory. Call me a fanboy, but i'd take either over Peterson :ezbill:
 
I didn't even read your initial message but Pierre Thomas is not even close to AD.
 
I hope this was posted to start some sort of stir late in the night. Pierre Thomas isn't in Adrian Peterson's league, and it's not even close.
 

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