Why Adrian Peterson makes sense for Saints

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Worrying about who the "starter" is between Ingram and Peterson misses the point. They both will have a huge role to play, and it's on Peterson to prove he needs to stay on the field. Ingram is a former first-round pick, but the six-year veteran has never had the kind of workhorse responsibilities Peterson handled in Minnesota. While Ingram has improved greatly on passing downs over the years, he's never played more than 542 snaps in a season. That should leave plenty of room for Peterson.

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Peterson should be excited. Often playing with one hand behind his back because of the quarterback situation or offensive line in Minnesota, Peterson now joins a top-five quarterback and a line that ranked among the league's best in run-blocking in 2016, according to Football Outsiders. Peterson will face more advantageous fronts in New Orleans. The Saints do a great job spreading teams out horizontally with all of their receivers, and Peterson is built to gash opponents up the middle.

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The learning curve for Peterson in the Saints' pass-heavy offense could be steep, although perhaps the fit isn't as awkward as one would expect. While the NFL has moved inexorably toward playing out of the shotgun formation at all times, the Saints have gone in the other direction. The team ranked 28th in shotgun snaps in 2016. They ran the ball with Brees under center, not in the shotgun, 80.45 percent of the time, good for fifth in the league. That track record plays to Peterson's strengths, and I'd expect the team to play to its personnel with more power football in 2017.

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