MINNEAPOLIS -- The career rushing output of the running backs on the Minnesota Vikings' roster -- 3,626 yards between Latavius Murray, Jerick McKinnon and Bishop Sankey -- is 30.8 percent of the man the Vikings are trying to replace. The best single-season output of anyone in the trio (Murray's 1,066 yards in 2015) would be the eighth-best season of Adrian Peterson's career.
It's a new chapter for the Vikings' running game, as the team tries to move forward while Peterson searches for a new employer. But while Peterson's greatness was measured almost solely by what he could do after taking a handoff, the job description of the men succeeding him figures to be much broader.
Running backs catch the ball in offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's offense. They usually line up in the shotgun, too, and they're often asked to pick up a blitzer from that set. The Vikings were attracted to Murray because his résumé included more than productivity as a runner, and they'll continue to expect more than just rushing yards out of McKinnon, too.
The Vikings had the league's worst rushing offense in 2016, and coach Mike Zimmer lamented how one-dimensional their offense became as a result. But while Murray, McKinnon and company will inevitably be mentioned alongside Peterson all through 2017, their efficacy in replacing him will be judged on more than the area of the game that made Peterson great.
Current roster (2017 cap number in parentheses): Murray ($2.956 million), McKinnon ($828,750), Sankey ($690,000), C.J. Ham ($465,000).
Player with the most to prove in 2017: Murray's deal currently includes only $1.1 million guaranteed against injury for 2018, with his $5.15 million base becoming fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2018 league year. Effectively, the Vikings can use him this season and release him with only a $1.2 million cap hit for 2018 if they don't like what they see this season. Considering the depth in the draft, and the affordability of the running backs the Vikings could add next week, Murray will have to be productive enough to earn his keep.
But he's not the only one. McKinnon is in a contract year, after three seasons that haven't quite delivered on the promise that followed him to Minnesota after the Vikings took him in the third round in 2014. He ran for 539 yards last season, setting a career high by a yard, but averaged only 3.4 yards per carry behind the Vikings' suspect offensive line. The team is counting on more consistent run blocking this season, and it will be incumbent upon McKinnon to show some of the big-play ability that figured to come with his attention-grabbing workout numbers at the 2014 combine. The Vikings seemed set to unleash McKinnon as a multi-faceted playmaker after what they did at the end of 2015, using him on jet sweeps and as a slot receiver in addition to running back, but were never able to unpack such a diverse role for him. Perhaps they'll be able to do so in 2017.
Draft need: GM Rick Spielman has called this year's running back class the deepest he's ever seen, and given the amount of time the Vikings have spent scouting running backs, it would be something of a surprise if they don't take one to round out their backfield group. Spielman, coach Mike Zimmer and new running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu were at Oklahoma's pro day to watch Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine, and the Vikings have spent time with Tennessee's Alvin Kamara, Toledo's Kareem Hunt and Wyoming's Brian Hill, among others. Selecting another back would give the Vikings future flexibility, and would provide another option as they shift toward the ensemble cast that many teams use at the position.