Peterson heaps praise upon McFadden

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ALAMEDA -- As the saying goes, game recognizes game.So of course, Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson would have complimentary words for his Raiders counterpart in Darren McFadden, right? Even if the man known as "Run DMC" has been limping since suffering a right mid-foot sprain on Oct. 23 and has not played, let alone practiced, since."He's a tremendous talent," Peterson said of McFadden on a Wednesday conference call with Bay Area reporters. "There's not too many guys that I watch or I'm excited to watch, but he's one of those guys."
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When McFadden was injured, he had entered that weekend leading the NFL in rushing with 610 yards. Now, his 614 rushing yards rank 13th.Peterson, meanwhile, is fifth in the NFL with 846 yards on the ground. He is also a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro selection.Both running backs, though, were college studs. As a freshman at Oklahoma, Peterson was runner-up to USC's Matt Leinart for the Heisman Trophy in 2004. McFadden, meanwhile, was a two-time runner-up at Arkansas, to Ohio State's Troy Smith in 2006 and Florida's Tim Tebow in 2007."Ever since Arkansas, I watched him and kind of praised him, just his style of play," Peterson said. "A north-and-south player, great speed, quick feet, just athletic, catches the ball well."Just like me, I'm sure there's things he would love to improve on but, outside of that, he's a guy that I respect and I like the way he runs the ball. I can't say that about a lot of other backs."Peterson, who endured ankle and collarbone injuries as a sophomore and junior, had an inkling the Raiders might use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft on him. Instead, Oakland selected JaMarcus Russell, and Peterson fell to Minnesota at No. 7."I thought it was a possibility," he said. "But I felt like it worked out well. I won't complain."A year later, the Raiders drafted McFadden fourth overall.Peterson has only missed three games in his career; one of which was the Vikings' 29-22 defeat of the Raiders in Minnesota on Nov. 18, 2007.McFadden has missed at least three games in each of his first three seasons and has already missed two thus far in 2011.

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