The Sooners have had some terrific running backs through the years.
But only Greg Pruitt (5,672) and Billy Sims (5,106) surpassed 5,000 career rushing yards as a pro, with Joe Washington finishing at 4,839.
Local diehards have Peterson headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame before this weekend's draft even commences, but the odds are much more likely Peterson won't reach 5,000 yards.
Not because of his history of injuries, and not because a curse surrounds OU running backs.
The sheer violence of the sport makes it a crap shoot to predict greatness, especially at such a physically demanding position.
Peterson will be a marked man in the NFL, both in name and stature — more specifically, the upright stature in which he runs.
Backs able to elude opponents tend to have much longer pro careers than those who do not.
"I think Adrian is a target,” former Sooners coach Barry Switzer said. "He runs upright, is powerful, has great speed, catches the ball well. But is he a make-you-miss guy? Yes, he's a big back and should do well in the NFL, if he doesn't get hurt.”
Steve Owens won the 1969 Heisman Trophy by plowing over people.
Owens never missed a game and missed very few practices at OU.
By comparison, Peterson missed eight games with the Sooners due to injury. (By the way, they won every contest without him.)
The seemingly indestructible Owens didn't even make it out of his first exhibition schedule in the NFL, suffering a shoulder injury in the final preseason game.
That was followed by muscle pulls and a serious knee injury.
Owens wound up playing 53 games for the
