Brad Childress Knows Even Less About Running Backs
We’ve previously blogged about the fact that every move Brad Childress has made at quarterback has been completely boneheaded, so when we say that Childress might know even less about running backs than he does about quarterbacks, it’s really saying something.
One of the biggest stories to emerge from this weekend’s slate of NFL games was Viking rookie Adrian Peterson’s breakout performance against the Bears. Peterson finished with a stunning 224 yards and 3 TDs rushing leading the Vikings to a win in Chicago.
Peterson probably would have broken the NFL single game rushing record had Brad Childress made Peterson the focal point of the Vikings rushing attack. However, according to Childress Adrian Peterson is still the backup to Chester Taylor.
No, seriously.
By now it should be clear to anyone who’s ever seen more than 1 football game in their life that Adrian Peterson is the best running back in Minnesota. Certainly the best back in the NFC North and probably the best running back in the NFC. JJ Cooper of Fanhouse calls Peterson “Purple Jesus” And most people will look at Peterson’s 224 yards and assume that Peterson is by now the focal point of the Minnesota Vikings rushing attack and offense.
But that wouldn’t be the case.
Childress gave Chester Taylor 2 more carries than Peterson on Sunday, with which Taylor managed a pedestrian 83 yards on 22 carries. Taylor averaged 3.7 yards per carry playing behind an offensive line that was blowing holes wide open. Holes big enough to allow Adrian Peterson to average 11.2 yards per carry on 20 carries.
While it might make some sense to suggest that Childress would be wise to guard against wearing Peterson down, his incomprehensible decision to make this franchise player return kickoffs invalidates that theory.
And worse yet, Brad Childress really believes that Taylor is somehow comparable to Peterson. When beat writers first started asking Childress about the division of labor at running back after the Vikings last loss against Green Bay, Childress responded:
”I think you’re mindful of that when you have a two running back attack, that you’re not going to use somebody all the way throughout. And that’s the great thing about having two guys that you feel equally good about and equally explosive about. I think Chester ripped off a 35-yard run yesterday as well [actually 37 yards]. You do that changeup and it benefits both people and it benefits our football team.”
And again in talking about Peterson after the Bears game, Childress once again referred to Peterson as not “Purple Jesus” but Chester Taylor’s backup.
“Good timing on (Peterson returning the final kickoff). It counts as a touch. I mentioned that to (Peterson and Taylor) last night. Every time he gets his hands on it, it counts as a touch. The backup tailback is always the guy that touches the ball on punt returns and kickoff returns. He has an aptitude to be able to return kickoffs.”
Huh?
Childress has maintained that Taylor is his starter and backed up that claim by giving Taylor more carries than Peterson, a gameplan which requires a mind-boggling degree of stupidity.
What’s worse, I’m pretty sure that Chester Taylor isn’t even the Vikings second best running back. Now that we’ve established that Brad Childress has a tendency to make horrific personnel decisions, is it at least possible that the wildly underrated Mewelde Moore might be better than Taylor?
Taylor is certainly a good NFL running back. Not very good or great, but good as his career 4.3 yards per carry average indicate. He’s tough, physical and can break a few tackles but does not have the lateral quickness or speed to be a front line NFL running back.
Moore, on the other hand, remains one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Having seen Moore extensively at Tulane, I firmly believe that Moore is a carbon copy of Brian Westbrook…and not a poor man’s version either. The real deal. While the knock against Moore seems to be that he’s not big or tough enough to be more than a 3rd down back, I seem to recall a the same labels being applied to Westbrook as well as Tiki Barber and Reggie Bush. And a quick look at Moore’s career stats clearly shows that he could very well be on par with those elite backs.
Mewelde Moore: 254 carries, 1243 yards, 4.9 ypc, 116 receptions, 1093 yards, 9.4 ypr
Tiki Barber: 2217 carries, 10,449 yards, 4.7 ypc, 586 receptions, 5183 yards, 8.8 ypr
Brian Westbrook: 807 carries, 3863 yards, 4.8 ypc, 282 receptions, 2695 yards, 9.6 ypr
Reggie Bush: 224 carries, 809 yards, 3.6 ypc, 119 receptions, 908 yards, 7.6 ypr
If you compare Moore to Barber or Westbrook going into their respective 4th seasons, Moore’s numbers greatly outpace the other two at the same stages of their careers. More striking is comparing Moore to Reggie Bush, another versatile run/pass threat.
Moore: 370 career touches for 2336 yards, 6.3 yards per touch
Bush: 343 career touches for 1717 yards, 5.0 yards per touch
And try this fact on for size. Moore has been given 20 touches 7 times in his career and he’s averaging 139 yards per game from scrimmage and the Vikings are 6-1 in those games. Since Moore as drafted in 2004, in games he’s had less than 20 touches the Vikings are 19-27.
It’s probably important to put 139 yards per game in perspective. When Marshall Faulk set the single season record for yards from scrimmage with 2429 yards in 1999, that was an average of 151 yards per game. Clearly, last season Brad Childress had no use for a back who had averaged 139 yards as a starter.
To add to the insanity, Childress has Moore inactive on Sundays in favor of a 3rd fullback, then turns around and in the course of negotiations tries to assert that Moore is worth a 3rd round draft pick. 3rd round draft picks are expected to be starters, not guys who don’t suit up on Sunday.
If Moore is traded to Tampa Bay, which would be the smart move for both sides, Tampa would instantly get an upgrade for their running game and an ideal back to pair with the crafty Jeff Garcia in Jon Gruden’s offense. Moore has flown under the radar thanks to Brad Childress, but it should be abundantly clear now that Childress’ judgment is to be taken with heaping amounts of salt.
Last season when an even split of carries between Moore and Taylor made complete sense, Childress wore Taylor out while giving Moore a measly 24 carries on the season. That’s less than 2 per game. Now that it’s clear that there is only 1 running back of note in Minnesota, Childress goes to a split that is mostly even. Par for the course.
So what’s worse? Starting your 3rd best running back over a potential hall of famer or going oh-fer-six on quarterback moves when your area of expertise is supposed to be quarterbacks. The fact that this issue can be legitimately debated is a tragedy for Viking fans who have the defense and running game to play for championships.
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