Mike Wobschall of Vikings.com reported that rookie second-round pick Toby Gerhart took a redeye to the Twin Cities after taking his final exam at Stanford and arrived at Winter Park on Wednesday morning.

Gerhart will get a crash course on the Vikings offense when he takes part in the three-day mandatory minicamp that starts Friday. Gerhart is scheduled to practice Friday and Saturday before returning to Stanford on Sunday for his graduation ceremony. He will then fly back to the Twin Cities to complete rookie orientation next week.

As Judd reported on Tuesday, it looks like Adrian Peterson could miss the entire minicamp while he attends the Adrian Peterson Day in his hometown of Palastine, Texas, this weekend.

Peterson's absence means Gerhart and Albert Young will get plenty of work this weekend. The Vikings obviously have other running backs competing for roster spots, including Ian Johnson. But Young and Gerhart will be competing for that backup job left vacant when Chester Taylor signed with the Bears this offseason.

Gerhart took part in the rookie camp after the draft, but per league rules, he could not attend the OTAs because he was still taking classes at Stanford, which is on the quarter system. It will be interesting to see what kind of shape he is in and how quickly he picks up his responsibilities. Gerhart said recently that the Vikings offense is very similar to what he ran at Stanford so he has some knowledge of the system.

Young is entering his third year with the team so he obviously should have a good understanding of the offense. Young talked about his desire to win that No. 2 job in this story we ran in March.

The competition for that backup job won't really crank up until they put on full pads down in Mankato. But we'll get an early glimpse of it this weekend.