Patrick Peterson looking for 10 picks, but unlikely to get them all this season

Patrick Peterson is a budding star with big goals in the NFL. He wants to be the best cornerback to ever play the game, surpassing greats like Deion Sanders, Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey. He wants to set punt return records, making Devin Hester look like a worn out name in the record books.

For this season alone, Peterson wants to record ten interceptions. At almost half way through the season, he has just three, but before we count him out, check out this quote he gave to AZ Cardinals writer Darren Urban:

"My first goal was to get an interception each and every game, but obviously that's not going to happen. Hopefully I can get an interception in all of the games that are left, but I'll just keep studying up on all these teams and see how these guys want to attack me."

This quote tells of not only Peterson's lofty goals, but of his maturity. He strives to be great and is willing to do all of the dirty work, such as studying tape, in order to get where he wants to be.

I just don't see it happening for him, though. According to Pro Football Focus, Peterson sees roughly 5-6 targets per game from opposing quarterbacks. Given the level of opposing QB's he is playing, he is not going to get the opportunity to record ten. He has three on the season, but one of them came on a play in the end zone in which the ball wasn't even thrown to his receiver. How many times will that happen?

The thing is, Peterson is almost too good to get ten interceptions. No quarterback that is in their right mind is going to continuously throw at the young stud because he is like a blanket in coverage. And that's a good thing. Sure, an interception is nice to have, especially with Peterson's ability to take it back for six points, but stopping the opposing team's top receiver is much more important.

So go ahead, Patrick. Keep setting these tangible goals for yourself. It never hurts to shoot for the stars.