Minnesota Vikings: Don’t Give Up On Cordarrelle Patterson
I’m not ready to give up on Cordarrelle Patterson. Fans shouldn’t be and neither should the brass whom actually work for the Minnesota Vikings. There is no doubt that Patterson has shown flashes in his time as a wide out, but what Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting isn’t the worst thing in the world either.
It looks now that Cordarelle Patterson will be used more as kick returner than wideout for Vikings this year.
— Charley Walters (@Charley_Walters) June 29, 2015
The Vikings have been killed by a certain someone that wore a Chicago Bears uniform for a long time. Cordarrelle Patterson could turn into the Vikings’ own Devin Hester.
At least in that realm, Hester might just be the best kick returner of all-time and we can’t give Patterson that crown right now.
Patterson was an awesome kick return his rookie season. Patterson led the league with two kickoff returns for touchdowns including a scamper for 109 yards. He led the league in yards per return at a whopping 32.4 yards.
Coincidentally, Hester also had two kick returns for touchdowns in his rookie season as well.
The one thing that Hester has over Patterson is punt returns. Hester might be a better punt return than kick returner, but nobody has done both together better.
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This might just be the blueprint to get Patterson rolling for the Vikings.
If the big concern is Patterson’s ability to run routes, there is nothing better than just giving him the ball in space and letting his athletic ability take over. Like Hester, Patterson could be thrown out at receiver every now and then, too.
Patterson has way too much talent to be thrown to the wayside or be buried on the bench. Sometimes special talents just need a little push. This isn’t baseball with a limited active roster, there’s more than enough space on a football roster to fit a return specialist.