Adrian Peterson Injury: ACL and MCL Tear Opens Door for Toby Gerhart to Shine

Adrian Peterson is going to be out quite some time after an MRI revealed he tore both his ACL and MCL.

This devastating injury is going to make it hard for AP to get back on the field in time for the start of next season and it’s very possible that he will miss a few early 2012-13 games because of the recovery process.

“All Day” has been dealing with injury problems throughout the season but looked to be in excruciating pain after taking a hit right on the knee from DeJon Gomes early in the third quarter.

So where do the Vikings go from here, assuming they’ll be missing their stud RB for the next nine months?

All eyes are on backup RB Toby Gerhart, who has had moments of brilliance earlier in the year, filling in while AP was out with a high ankle sprain.

The two-year man out of Stanford finished the day against Washington with 11 rushes for 109 yards. Last week he had four catches for 46 yards and two scores against New Orleans.

Gerhart is a versatile back and just as dangerous catching the ball out of the backfield as he is plowing up the middle.

The one attribute he doesn’t possess is the potential to bust a big play that Peterson was known for. You could see this on display when Gerhart was caught from behind at the 8-yard line yesterday, after going 67-yards to nearly find pay dirt.

Regardless, the Vikings could do much worse than having an underutilized, former second-round pick with low mileage to replace a four-time Pro Bowler.

Minnesota closes their season at home against Chicago and will certainly start Gerhart when the time comes.

Expect him to have a solid all-around game and continue to get better as he gets more reps and becomes more comfortable in the system.