Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson has put together an illustrious NFL career that will one day land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, his career path could have been much different if he had come into the league today as Peterson acknowledged that he may have taken a different path with his choice of position being a pass rusher instead, according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post.

“Smart guy,” Peterson said. “It’s smart. If you’re able to play a different position and be good at it and be as dominant, then me as a running back, I would definitely go that route.”

Those words, coming from Peterson, form a staggering appraisal of the state of the NFL running back. In 11 seasons, he has earned $99 million, which is $30 million more than the next-highest earning back. He has rushed for more yards than all but eight men, and scored more rushing touchdowns than all but five. And even Peterson believes if he was a high school senior today, his best career path would be . . . something else?

“Yeah, definitely,” Peterson said. If he was 18 now, Peterson says, he would choose wide receiver or put on weight and become a pass rusher, “like Von Miller or something,” Peterson said.

Peterson has put forth an extremely productive career that has seen him push himself to ninth all-time in rushing yards quickly creeping up on Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson for the eighth spot on that list along with being sixth with 106 rushing touchdowns just one behind Hall of Famer Jim Brown and five from passing Hall of Famer Walter Payton.

He has certainly accomplished along the way, but the running back position is an extremely physically demanding position that has a short span in the league that has seen players typically hit their peak at the age 30 with teams looking to move off them from that point on. Meanwhile, pass rushers have shown to have more longevity while their value to get to the quarterback is oftentimes held in at a higher importance.

If anything, what these comments from Adrian Peterson show are that the undervalue of running backs is something that players are starting to take into real consideration if they want to play at the next level.