Kyle Rudolph

While Norv Turner notes that he likes the way the Vikings closed out 2014 on offense, he also knows Adrian Peterson’s return will have a major impact.

“Well, any great player — and you’re talking about one of the greatest players to ever play — it makes a total difference,” Turner said, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “It changes the whole approach for everybody. If you really break down how we played the last six weeks of the season, we played pretty good on offense. That’s something we’re going to build on. You add Adrian to it and, yeah, it makes a big difference.”

Turner didn’t detail too many of the changes to the approach, but did say that he expects Peterson to be a bigger part of the passing game than he’s been in the past and that other additions (the trade for Mike Wallace, the return to health of Kyle Rudolph) will also reshape the team’s offense for the 2015 season.

Turner has a history of feeding the ball to his top running back; LaDainian Tomlinson averaged 20.9 touches per game from 2007-09 while he and Turner were in San Diego. That included 2.86 receptions per game, which would represent a career high 45-46 receptions for Peterson if he catches the ball at the same rate. If he stays healthy, Peterson is a threat to finish as the #1 overall PPR running back.