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Shutdown Corner on the Vikings

  • Adrian Peterson blows teammates away in footraces; appears to be on the mend

    If you were wondering just how well Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee (and how much he sets the pace for the Vikings), it seems that things are going fairly well. At the team's Winter Park facility for the start of this year's offseason team activities in late April, Peterson noticed that his teammates weren't running as hard as he'd like them to. So Peterson, who's supposed to be on the mend and away from huffing it at all, reacted as any real competitor would -- he challenged those same teammates to a footrace.

    And left them all eating his dust.

    "He was off to the side working with our trainer, Eric Sugarman, and he looked out and saw the guys doing their wind sprints," head coach Leslie Frazier told ESPN Minnesota's Tom Pelissero. "He says, 'You know, I don't think they're running hard enough.' Eric allowed him to go out and run with them, and he passed them four different times. He finished in first four different times."

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    Keep in mind -- this is a guy who had major surgery on his left ACL, MCL and meniscus (basically a complete knee reconstruction) just five months ago. We're guessing that Peterson's regenerative properties are fairly unusual, and it's pretty certain that his teammates agree.

    "I remember [backup quarterback] Joe Webb saying, 'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it,'" Frazier said. "So, he's doing great and we're optimistic that he's going to be ready for that first game. I know that's his goal and we'll just see how he continues to progress, but he's doing great."

    About the only possible knock on Peterson's amazing game is the fact that he has been somewhat injury-prone. That said, he's missed just seven regular-season games in his five-year career, and missed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground just once. That happened last year, when Peterson missed four games and finished with just 970 yards. He missed three games with a high ankle sprain, and then tore up his knee in the Vikings' 15th game of the season, against the Washington Redskins. Surgery came soon after, at the hands of famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

    At the time, it was feared that Peterson would not be able to go for Week 1 of the 2012 season. Now, at least, things are looking up.

    Frazier told Pelissero that Peterson hasn't been cutting on the field yet, "but that's the next step. He has to get to the point where he's comfortable cutting. Straight ahead, he's doing great. Now he has to get to the point where he's comfortable being able to go left to right or right to left and stopping and starting. So, one step at a time."

    Well, more than one step. Quite a few steps, and very quickly. This jibes with Peterson's recent comments, stating that he is going as hard as possible in order to be ready for the regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 9.

    "To be honest with you I feel like 50-50," Peterson told ESPN's Josina Anderson, when asked about training camp. "I feel like honestly, sitting here telling you the truth, I'll be able to participate doing certain things. I think I'll be able to participate. That's my mindset; but I'm going to follow the protocol. Whatever the Vikings and their staff want me to do, then I'm gonna do that; but I'm not going to hinder myself. I'm going to let those guys know how I feel, so if I'm able to get out there and get a couple of reps or whatever, then I'm going to participate in that way. But I'm sure they've got my best interests in hand, so we'll work it out."

  • Beyond the Shutdown 50: Juron Criner, WR, Oakland Raiders

    Now that the 2012 NFL draft is in the can, it's time to take the Shutdown 50 scouting format forward and get a closer look at some of the surprising and fascinating selections from this year's draft -- the guys we missed in the original 50, but who could be impact players now or down the road. Our next entry: Arizona receiver Juron Criner, selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 33rd pick in the fifth round (168th overall).

    Overview: While most of the talk about Pac-12 passing attacks in 2011 focused on the offenses led by Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley, the Arizona passing  game has been one of the more productive in the nation in recent seasons -- and receiver Juron Criner may be the primary reason for that. If you're in the group who believes that former Arizona and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles hurt that aerial attack as much as he helped it with his inaccuracy and questionable decision-making, Criner stands out in sharper relief. After catching seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman, Criner moved up to 45/582/9 in 2009, and made a name for himself in 2010, when he caught 82 passes for 1,233 yards and 11 touchdowns. He repeated that touchdown figure last year, and the rest of the numbers almost matched up (75 for 926).

    Criner further set himself on the radar with an exciting week at the Senior Bowl. From our own Mike Tanier's report:

    Criner has probably helped his stock more than any other player during Senior Bowl practices this week ... [He] does not have breakaway speed, but he appears to have the rest of the package.

    "I'm very agile for a man my size," Criner said after Thursday's practice. That agility was evident earlier in the week, when he made smooth cuts and adjusted to poorly thrown balls in live practices. Criner has also been demonstrating good hands and pass-catching technique, and he looks more fluid and comfortable running routes than some of the other big receivers on the South squad.

    Janoris Jenkins (CB, North Alabama), the likely first-round pick who transferred from Florida because of personal issues, singled Criner out as the hardest South receiver to cover this week during his Thursday press conference. "He's kinda got ball skills," Jenkins said. "If you hit his hand, he'll catch it. And he's tall."

    So, there's that. When he's thrown to by good quarterbacks, Juron Criner tends to make plays. And even when he's thrown to by quarterbacks who couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat, he's going to do some interesting things. Now a proud member of the Oakland Raiders, Criner has a shot at doing what Tennessee wideout Denarius Moore did in 2011 -- come out of nowhere as a late-round pick and impress the NFL. Moore went off the hook in a relative sense in his rookie campaign, catching 33 passes for 618 yards and five touchdowns. Could Criner be the next guy on the Raiders' late-draft boards to flash that same kind of long-term potential?

    Strengths: Shows an impressive burst for an alleged "possession receiver" -- Criner gets up to speed quickly off the line and in end-arounds. Fires upfield with an impressive second gear. Good catch radius and fine hands in space -- Criner often contorted his body to make catches when Foles was throwing with questionable accuracy. Will adjust his body to catch deep balls without losing too much speed after he's already beaten the corner or safety down the seam.

    Made a lot of catches despite the fact that Foles was clearly targeting him as the first read, which allowed opponents to time their jumps on the ball. Will fight to get through contact before he's wrapped up and occasionally gets free to make a big play. Senior Bowl performances showed what he could do when targeted by quarterbacks with a clue, as has his brief performances in Raiders minicamp. Frequently listed as a possession receiver, but he's got more downfield speed than the title might imply.

    Weaknesses: Tends to lose control of the ball when contact is coming -- doesn't have alligator arms, per se, but has trouble bringing the ball in and securing it when a defender is bearing down on him. Will lose the ball too often upon contact, leading to fumbles and incompletions. Not an especially physical player when fighting for balls with defenders in short spaces.

    Yards after catch player against zone defenses, but you'd like to see him bounce off and make extra gains after first contact more often than he does. Didn't face a lot of press coverage in Arizona's spread offenses and will have to learn to adjust to being re-directed. Benefited from off-coverage far more than he will in the NFL; many of Criner's plays came from bubble screens or comebacks with coverage 2-5 yards away.

    Conclusion: Criner reminds me of a few receivers who made their bones in the mid-2000s against the Cover-2 and Tampa-2 defenses that were all the rage back then. Keenan McCardell, Torry Holt and Derrick Mason are a few who come to mind in that general sense. While Criner has a long way to go when it comes to facing up to the more physical demands placed on all receivers by the NFL's increasing use of man and press-man coverage, he's also probably getting debited at times for things that weren't his fault.

    And in that sense, he's very much like a group of receivers in the 2012 draft class -- LSU's Rueben Randle and Georgia Tech's Stephen Hill are two others -- whose tape is tougher to evaluate for various quarterback/scheme reasons. In the right kind of offense, and with a quarterback who will throw him open once in a while, Criner could be one of this draft's more compelling breakout performers.

    NFL Comparison: Bernard Berrian, Fresno State/Chicago Bears/Minnesota Vikings (2006-2009)

    Beyond the Shutdown 50:
    Bruce Irvin, OLB/DE, Seattle Seahawks | Brock Osweiler, QB, Denver Broncos | Kevin Zeitler, OG, Cincinnati Bengals | Brandon Weeden, QB, Cleveland Browns | Gino Gradkowski, C/G. Baltimore Ravens

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