Detroit Lions: Adrian Peterson signing a cause for celebration or concern?

Adrian Peterson to the Lions: Reasons to celebrate

It’s better than lining up against him

In fifteen total games against Peterson, more often than not, it meant that the Lions defense was in for a long day. Peterson gained over 1,800 yards from scrimmage, 5.2 yards per carry, and a dozen total touchdowns in his career against Detroit.

He went over 100 yards rushing eight times and his teams went 11-4 overall in those games. Who knows if A.D. has any more of those games left, but if he does, at least it won’t be against us this year.

Talk about running back depth

Peterson is the NFL’s fifth all-time leading rusher and could potentially end up as the fourth string running back on the Lions once the dust settles.

Admittedly, a starting running back in their mid-thirties is rarely a positive thing–and that may be what ends up happening in September–but this doesn’t change the expectation that D’Andre Swift, Kerryon Johnson, and even Bo Scarbrough are the ones getting most of the reps in the backfield.

From that perspective, would you rather have unheralded guys like Jason Huntley and Ty Johnson getting the remainder of the carries, or a tried and true legend like #28?

The Kyle Vanden Bosch Effect?

Vanden Bosch joined the Lions as a free agent towards the end of his career, and while he had a modest impact on the stat sheet, the example he set on the practice field was at least partly responsible for the monster that then-rookie Ndamukong Suh became.

If D’Andre Swift really has a chance to become the best running back of his draft class, going to work everyday with Adrian Peterson could do nothing but give him a leg up on his fellow rookie running backs around the league.