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Vikings' Toby Gerhart might be difficult to keep around

Jerome Felton expects to be blocking next season for Adrian Peterson. As for Toby Gerhart, probably not.

Gerhart has been playing behind star running back Peterson in Minnesota for four years. But Felton won't be surprised to see Gerhart carrying the ball somewhere else next season.

"There's a good chance he will be (one) pretty soon,'' Felton, the Vikings' fullback, said about Gerhart being a starting back with another team. "He's obviously had a lot of success when he's got an opportunity here, so I assume that will continue on forward. I know he's going to be a free agent after this year, and I'm sure there's going to be a lot of teams trying to get him.''

So Gerhart, 26, could be heading into his final five games with the Vikings. While he doesn't want to get ahead of himself, he does admit "it'd be nice'' to be a feature back.

"I hope so,'' Gerhart said about making a continued impression on free agent suitors the remainder of the season. "That's what you hope for, and trying to play hard and put things on tape and assess your resume and see what happens.''

Over the past two games, Gerhart has carried 15 times for 158 yards for a staggering average of 10.5 per carry. That came after he had carried just four times in the season's first nine games.

Gerhart's seven carries for 67 yards in Minnesota's 41 20 loss at Seattle on Nov. 17 mostly came after the game had been decided. But that wasn't the case with the 91 yards on eight carries Gerhart gained in a 26 26 tie last Sunday at Green Bay.

In the overtime, Gerhart carried four times for 33 yards. It's no wonder Gerhart has plenty of confidence that he can be a showcase guy.

"I think I can definitely Nike NFL Jerseys be a feature back, a 1,000 yard rusher, if I had the carries and the opportunities,'' said Gerhart, who has rushed 19 times for 186 yards on the season for an average of 9.8 per carry. "But, right now, I'm where I'm at and I got a role I got to embrace.''

Where he's at is behind Peterson, who had 521 of Minnesota's 578 carries by a running back in the team's 25 regular season games prior to the one at Seattle. But Peterson has been battling a groin strain the past two games, and Vikings coach Leslie Frazier turned to Gerhart to take some of the load off.

Gerhart did more than just that, outgaining Peterson against the Seahawks and providing the Vikings with an impressive one Authentic Russell Wilson Jersey two combo at Green Bay. Now, Frazier is looking for Gerhart to remain a factor in Sunday's game against Chicago at the Metrodome.

"I don't know if the numbers will be much more than what they were last week,'' said Frazier, who was able to give Peterson 32 carries for 146 yards against the Packers in a game Minnesota ran 79 plays. "But getting him on the field for sure with Adrian being where he is health wise. We do need to insert him more often than we do even in the first half, not just wait until wait until the second half when Adrian gets tired or gets fatigued.''

Gerhart certainly has proven his worth before. At Stanford, Gerhart rushed for 1,871 yards as a senior in 2009 and finished second wholesale jerseys in voting for the Heisman Trophy behind Alabama running back Mark Ingram.

Late in his second year with the Vikings in 2011, Gerhart filled in admirably when Peterson was out due to injuries. He had three games of 90 or more yards rushing.

After gaining 531 yards on 109 carries for a 4.9 average in 2011, Gerhart did not have the benefit of being a free agent. So he returned to Minnesota and got just 50 carries last season while Peterson was toting it 348 times for 2,097 yards, the second most in NFL history.

Now, Frazier seems resigned to the fact it will be tough for the Vikings to keep Gerhart around. He was asked how good Gerhart would be if he were with another team and not having to play behind Peterson.

"I think he'd be a featured back,'' Gerhart said. "Whenever he's gotten an opportunity, even the year when Adrian got injured, he stepped in and played very, very well. And you see now, when Adrian's not on the field and he gets his chance, he does extremely well. He's a good back and one of the best teammates you could ever ask for. He's not one of those guys who complains about being a backup to Adrian.''

Yes, Gerhart has kept a good attitude serving as Peterson's understudy four years. But one gets the feeling those days soon will be over.