When the new orleans Saints signed Adrian Peterson it caused a lot of excitement among players on the Saints team. Over his career, Peterson has been one of the best and most exciting running backs in the NFL and he has proven that injuries, and possibly age, are not slowing him down. However, there is one member of the Saints that might be happy to see Adrian joining the team but is not willing to concede anything to the former Minnesota Vikings star running back. According to the Saints’ 2016 starting running back Mark Ingram, he isn’t giving up his spot without a fight.
Mark Ingram is a competitor
Of course, this is not a literal fight but is instead Mark Ingram saying that he is not giving up his starting job that easily. Ingram said that he doesn’t care who is in the backfield with him for the New Orleans Saints but he will compete with them 100-percent to win the starting job. Ingram went on to say that he respects everything that Adrian Peterson has accomplished in the NFL and believes that Adrian is still a great player.
However, despite his respect, Mark Ingram said he is not afraid of going out and competing with Adrian Peterson for carries for the New Orleans Saints in 2017. Ingram said it doesn’t matter who it is again, or “how high on the totem pole they are,” he will give his best and compete for everything.
The two will get their first chance at the competition when the Saints’ veteran minicamp opens this week. Ingram rested during the first two weeks of OTAs due to an injury and then Peterson rested the third week.
Mark Ingram vs. Adrian Peterson
Mark Ingram is a former Heisman Trophy winner but it took him a few years to finally break out in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.
He struggled early on but finally had his first 1,000-yard season in 2016, running for 1,043 yards with a career-high 5.1 yards-per-carry. It was also only the second season that Ingram played all 16 games.
On the other hand, Adrian Peterson has run for over 1,000 yards in every season he has played outside of three seasons that were cut short due to injuries.
After tearing his ACL in 2011, Peterson returned in 2012 and ran for over 2,000 yards and almost broke Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. After tearing his ACL again in 2014, Adrian returned and led the NFL in rushing in 2015 with 1,485 yards. Peterson was injured most of last season so there are some who hope history repeats itself with the New Orleans Saints.
Mark Ingram said that, while he is competing with Adrian Peterson for carries in 2017, he is happy to see Peterson with the New Orleans Saints. Ingram said he followed Peterson’s career since Ingram played at Alabama and has “followed him forever.” Mark said that he wants to pick Adrian’s brain and learn as much as he can from him, see how he works. Ingram said that Peterson is a Hall of Fame player and he wants to utilize him while he can.
