vikings/nfl

Six of the NFL's top 10 rushers last season missed the playoffs. Five of them were workhorse backs with at least 303 carries.

Meanwhile, seven teams had two No. 1-caliber rushers that split time and had at least 155 carries apiece. Four of those teams -- Indianapolis, New England, Chicago and New Orleans -- reached the conference championship games. The Colts beat the Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI on the strength of a combined 190 yards rushing from Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai.

The Vikings obviously were paying close attention. With a No. 1 running back still in his prime (Chester Taylor) already on the roster, they still selected the best running back, Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson, with the seventh pick in the NFL draft.

"He and Chester will do a great job in the backfield in terms of changing things up," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "Change of pace is something [former Wisconsin] coach [Barry] Alvarez used to talk about. It was the same way in Philadelphia with a [Brian] Westbrook and whoever we brought off the bench there. It's difficult on a defense. When you don't know what the pace of that guy is, it takes a little bit to calibrate."

Childress wants to recreate in Minnesota something similar to what he had in Philadelphia in 2003, when he was Eagles offensive coordinator. Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter touched the ball 290 times from scrimmage for 1,664 yards and 20 touchdowns as the Eagles reached the NFC Championship Game.

The expectation is the 6-1, 217-pound Peterson will be the faster (4.38), more explosive playmaker, while the more compact Taylor (5-11, 213) will wear down defenses without wearing himself out like he did last season.

"Obviously, you don't draft a guy like this to sit him," Childress said. "I'm sure Chester will be pleased that we will be able to take a little bit of the load off of him."

Taylor averaged 22.5 carries a game during the first three months of last season. But December was a different story. Natural wear and tear, and a rib injury limited him to 13.5 carries a game and sidelined him for one game. The Vikings were 0-4 in December with Taylor on the field.

Taylor declined an interview request through his agent, Ken Sarnoff. But Sarnoff said, "Chester is fine with everything."

Peterson also is accustomed to being a workhorse back. As a freshman in 2004, when he was runner-up to Matt Leinart in the Heisman Trophy race, Peterson had 339 carries for 1,925 yards (5.7) and 15 touchdowns. That's an average of 26 carries a game.

Injuries cost him eight games over the next two seasons, including seven last year because of a broken collarbone. But he still averaged 22.6 carries a game when he played.

"It's a team, so whatever the [Vikings] said, if it's a two-running back thing, then, hey, I'm all for that," Peterson said. "I can carry the load, 20-25 carries, if that's what is needed. ... But it's not going to take me 25-30 carries to get me in a rhythm. It's full speed from step one."

Peterson has virtually no experience catching the ball. He had only 24 career catches and one touchdown receiving at Oklahoma. But Childress said Peterson caught the ball well at the scouting combine and in a workout at Oklahoma.

Childress said he envisions an offensive package that would put Peterson and Taylor on the field at the same time. "We'll probably end up calling it something like the 'pony backfield,' " he said.

Sorry, Brad. That's already taken.

The Saints use the term when they pair bruiser Deuce McAllister and playmaker Reggie Bush together. Last year, the two of them had a combined 2,562 yards and 18 touchdowns from scrimmage on 517 touches. McAllister had 274 touches, while Bush had 243.

"There certainly are opportunities to get both [Taylor and Peterson] on the field," Childress said. "It's important to be able to show a defense different talents, different schemes, particularly when they settle in on one guy. And then you also keep guys fresh."

Who knows if it will work here. But there is plenty of evidence that it has worked very well elsewhere.