P2 - Vocal Leader

During his time with the Arizona Cardinals, Peterson learned from a veteran secondary that included Adrian Wilson, Kerry Rhodes, and Rashad Johnson. Although Peterson had the pedigree coming out of LSU, he quickly learned what it was like to be a professional and how to become a student of the game.

“With me being a top-five draft pick, I was always relying on my athletic ability,” Peterson recalled. “Once I started studying film and having the right practice habits, the game started to slow down for me.”

For the corners on the Vikings roster, the lessons Peterson learned remain the same. Minnesota struggled on the back end last season, allowing 7.3 net yards per attempt (second in the NFL) and 30 passing touchdowns (ninth). While having a veteran like Peterson may not solve all their problems, having someone that has experience could help the rest of the secondary become more comfortable on the field.

“A lot of guys can get in the game, and they can be a deer in the headlights,” Peterson said. “But if you understand what’s coming at you, the game will slow down for you.”

That’s one of the biggest goals that Peterson is entering his first season in Minnesota. While he’s spent time with the corners teaching them the intricacies of how receivers run routes, he has also shown them how to work off the field by studying film and taking care of their bodies.

It’s a lesson that Peterson continues to learn heading into his 30s. Peterson chose the Vikings last season in large part to Zimmer’s reputation as a defensive backs guru. By learning from Zimmer, Peterson believes he can pay it forward to the rest of the secondary.

“When a coach is able to coach up a veteran and a veteran is able to take that in, that gives those young players a kind of enlightenment that everybody’s coachable,” Peterson explained. “[Zimmer is] not just coaching up the young guys. If you’re able to take that coaching and apply it on the field, you’ll be a much better player.”

The tutelage goes beyond what Peterson brings to the team. With the addition of fellow veterans Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander, a player like Dantzler or Boyd can look around and see how the older players conduct themselves and try to mimic that on the field.

If the younger corners can take it in, Peterson’s value to the team will go beyond his performance on the field. His trainer told Peterson that it’s part of his responsibility to help the next generation of players, which Peterson has not taken lightly.

“You don’t want to walk away from the game with all this knowledge and not be able to give it back,” Peterson said. “That’s what I want to do. I want to continue helping these guys. Any nuggets or tidbits I can give them to help the team, the better.”

What player do you expect to break out this year? Could Patrick Peterson play a big role in helping our young secondary, especially with someone like Cam Dantzler? – Matthew T.

I’m going to merge your two questions into one answer and choose Peterson as the player who could break out. Maybe that sounds odd considering Peterson reached eight straight Pro Bowls to start his career. But Peterson really struggled a year ago and it’s no sure thing that he’ll regain his previous form, especially considering he led the league in penalties last season.

Still, Peterson has earned rave reviews from everyone I’ve spoken to and seems re-energized by joining a new organization for the first time in a decade. He has enjoyed working with a defensive back guru in Zimmer, and Zimmer has clearly enjoyed having Peterson around.

I do think Peterson’s presence helps someone like Dantzler in a big way, but I’m curious to see how Peterson plays on the field. We know Zimmer doesn’t typically have a long leash for cornerbacks, especially ones who get penalized, and Peterson’s addition feels like it could go in one of two drastically different ways.

He could come here and return to Pro Bowl form thanks to a new team led by a defensive coach. Or maybe his disappointing season a year ago was no fluke and rather the sign of things slowing down for the 31-year-old.

We shall see, but for now, my bet is the former.

After 10 years in the desert, he needs water, and there is plenty of it in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. As a child, Peterson went fishing with his father and grandfather often in Southeast Florida. He missed the rod and reel in Arizona, so in the offseasons, he kept his hobby going on his 37-foot catamaran in his home state, catching kingfish, grouper, bull shark and more. He no longer has to go to Florida to fish, as the bass have been biting on Lake Minnetonka and Lake Riley, and it soon will be walleye season. When the weather turns, he plans on ice fishing.

“It’s a breath of fresh air,” he says one beautiful Minnesota day while sitting outside on a concrete stoop before practice. “It was all in God’s plan.”

At the defensive walk-through, Peterson is the first player on the field, as usual, going through a series of dynamic stretches. He and Zimmer meet on the grass. It is one of those undiscovered moments that shapes teams.

Zimmer asks him what he thinks about the wide receivers and Peterson dishes. Then they start talking about some of the defensive backs, and Peterson offers some frank critiques.

Zimmer has had success with older cornerbacks, including Deion Sanders and Terence Newman, and has met many veterans who aren’t very interested in his opinions or wishes. One of the first things Zimmer asked Peterson was, “Do you want to be coached?”

“I want you to coach me,” Peterson told him. “I want you to coach me hard.”

And so they begin an ongoing discussion about technique, scheme and teamwork. What Zimmer teaches is mostly what Peterson has excelled at, but the Vikings are giving Peterson more options in certain coverages and emphasizing denying receivers the ball instead of going for interceptions.

Zimmer leaves the details to secondary coach Karl Scott and mainly discusses the big picture with Peterson — how he can impact teammates and how they can impact him.

Sanders was the most gifted corner Zimmer has worked with. Peterson is next. Sanders was voted all-decade in the 1990s. Peterson was voted all-decade in the 2010s. Both were the greatest cornerbacks of their generations.

“With Deion, we knew how good he was, so we wanted to make the game really simple with him,” Zimmer says. “That’s what we’re trying to do for the most part with Patrick. It’s about, ‘Here’s your job. Take care of your guy.'”

Peterson says he believes the Vikings will “allow me to be Pat P.” The expectation is Peterson will be playing a lot of press-man, in which he has excelled for most of his career. And it seems likely he will be traveling with No. 1 receivers, at least in some cases. “Right now,” Zimmer says, “he’s our best guy at corner by far.”

Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson sees the spring in Peterson’s step as well as the wisdom in his eyes. Jefferson has known Peterson since Jefferson was 10 and Peterson was an up-and-coming cornerback for LSU. Peterson was teammates with Jefferson’s brother Jordan, and Justin often tagged along with his older sibling. Now Justin says Peterson probably is the most gifted cornerback he ever has competed against. “To see how patient he is, how smart he is and how fast he is, he’s a crazy player to go up against,” Jefferson says.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen says he could not be happier to call Peterson a teammate. Their lockers are next to one another. They golf together and compete at practice like MMA fighters.

“I was thinking at the end of practice today I have to go and talk to him and tell him he’s making me better,” Thielen says. “He’s got that dog in him. I talk a lot about what that ‘it’ factor is. I call it the dog factor, but you have to have it in this league to be that superstar, to be that guy who makes a team go from good to great. He’s that guy.”

For the first time in a while, Peterson says he is appreciated instead of tolerated.

This, he believes, is the beginning of the final third of his career.

“I feel rejuvenated,” he says.

That’s what being a new guy can do.

Closely following the news of the one-year, $10 million contract with the Vikings, Peterson began demonstrating a clear example of how an NFL vocal leader should carry themselves. There was a mostly drama-free transition from his former home on the Arizona Cardinals, which, situationally speaking, was handled as maturely as one could expect. Peterson is now doing a wonderful job of making his entire life about Vikings culture for the fanbase to see, and not just when he is padded up or in front of a microphone. He posts pictures wearing purple outfits, hype videos, and shows love for his teammates in purple on a regular basis through his social media.

Back on the Cardinals, Peterson showed the same respect for teammates, giving a shout-out to Budda Baker after he was awarded a contract extension in August of last year, and frequently retweeting Cardinals hype videos and showing enthusiasm for his team. I like to see this type of consistency in a player. It validates the difference between a true team leader and somebody just trying to flaunt their new position to possibly make their old team jealous.

Peterson’s vocal positivity for this team has the potential to make a strong impact on all positions around him, and he backs it up with eight Pro Bowl appearances in a row. The rookies on the team get an experienced leader who they can learn from both on the field and in their personal lives; a necessary resource for young kids right out of college getting their first glimpse at fame. Peterson can show young Vikings cornerbacks like Cameron Dantzler and Harrison Hand how to cultivate longevity and rise to the occasion when it matters the most. When Peterson happens to have criticisms for the team, he discusses them maturely and he doesn’t excuse himself from being part of the problem. This modesty can be a priceless lesson for a young player to learn early in their career.

For the fanbase, Peterson represents a new player ready to fuel the fire and provide some quality chirping with the opponent, providing the energy that has been missing over the past few years. While it may be tough to match the insanity that Everson Griffen, Jared Allen, and John Randle brought to the Vikings, Peterson has a command of his peers that can be equally as effective. For the Minnesota front office, they get a player who can show other free agents what the team has to offer in terms of cohesion and work ethic, possibly influencing future free agents to make the same moves and creating a closer bond between management and players.

Most importantly, this self-imposed leadership role provides motivation to Peterson himself, to elevate his career going from an old team that did not value him before his departure to a new team that trusts in his abilities. As far as NFL career lifecycles go, the 31-year-old Peterson will want to put up stats that match his high praise of the Vikings’ defensive play and show that he is not just another washed-up cornerback looking for a fresh start on a prove-it contract, but that he is a defensive leader of a promising contender. At this stage in his career, Peterson no longer needs to prove himself statistically in order to earn bigger contracts, he is in a position to prove himself in terms of legacy. Thankfully, he is using the Minnesota Vikings as his avenue to success.