Adrian Peterson Released: Breaking Down Fantasy Football Impact Of Move

The Washington Football Team made the interesting decision to release Adrian Peterson on Friday morning.

The former All-Pro running back actually had a nice season a year ago, but he’s 35, which makes him ancient for an NFL running back.

Here’s the fantasy-football ramifications of Washington’s move.

FOR PETERSON
Peterson, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, isn’t ready to retire yet. That makes sense. He ran for nearly 900 yards last season and scored five touchdowns. From a fantasy standpoint, he was a solid-ish No. 2 option or a flex in deep leagues. His 130 points in standard-scoring ranked 28th in the NFL among running backs, which is serviceable enough, especially if you were able to get him on the waiver wire. Where he lands will be key when it comes to determining his 2020 fantasy value. It didn’t take long for Patriots speculation to begin, but if he can find a contender with a need at the position, he could be in a decent position to vulture some touchdowns.

FOR WASHINGTON
The least surprising aspect of the Peterson decision was his age, as we mentioned. But there probably still could have been a role for him in the Washington backfield, especially after Derrius Guice was released. That they felt there wasn’t should indicate some confidence in a player like Antonio Gibson. While Gibson’s college production pales in comparison to other big-name young backs, his athleticism is no joke. He should be shooting up draft boards for leagues with very late drafts, and he’s likely to be a popular guy on the waiver wire in leagues where he went undrafted. Bryce Love might also get some looks in deeper leagues.

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