In the 2013 NFL Draft, the Wide Receiver position was looked at as a very deep position, but no top notch “studs.” That caused only 1 WR to go in the 1st 26 picks, Tavon Austin, and he was essentially chosen as a slot WR. Before that draft, the two WRs that stood out for me were both from the same school, the University of Tennessee. I predicted that Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter would end up being the two best WRs in that draft. Patterson was selected with the 29th pick in that draft and now, about 18 months later, it looks like Patterson will get his big opportunity to prove me right, as the offense will feature him as the #1 passing option this year on the Minnesota Vikings.
Offensive Coordinator, Norv Turner, who is known as one of the best playing calling minds in the league, has already pointed Patterson out as a special player and someone that will be the focal point of his game plan. Turner said, “We need to get Cordarrelle the ball and we need to find different ways of doing it. Whether it’s with handing it to him or throwing it to him, moving him around a little bit, we are limiting what we do in the preseason. He needs to be a big part of what we do when we get going.” Fellow starting WR, Greg Jennings, who was signed last year, from the Green Bay packers, to be their #1 option, as also said similar remarks earlier in camp about, the big 6’2 216 lb, Patterson.
Jerome Simpson is the Vikings deep threat, but will miss the 1st three games of the season due to a DUI he got in November of last year. However, Turner isn’t worry about someone filling his shoes with Patterson, Jennings, and others there. “I think we have a lot of guys that can stretch the field and get deep. Some of them do it in different ways. Greg Jennings has caught three or four deep balls against our top corners. A lot of it depends on coverage, a lot of it depends on the play we have designed, but I think we have a number of guys that can make big plays up the field”, said Turner. Patterson definitely has the speed you would want from a deep threat, proven by his 4.42 forty time.
Last year Patterson mostly worked on special teams, made the Pro Bowl, and was named All-Pro as a Kick Returner. He had 45 catches for 469 yards and 4 TDs as a WR, with 3 more rushing the ball, but was given more responsibility as a WR at the end of the year. Turner talked about his development saying, “I think he’s getting more consistent. He needs to continue to grow in that area. For young receivers, they slowly figure out when the ball is coming their way and when it’s not and just that consistency of understanding that most the times you don’t get the ball this play but 1 out of 10, 1 out of 12, because of the coverage you’re going to get it and just understanding you got to go every down.”
The Vikings are always going to be centered around their star RB, Adrian Peterson, but they have not had a dynamic WR with this much talent since Randy Moss left town. Even though the Vikings think of Patterson in a high enough regards to give him Randy Moss’ 84 jersey, he isn’t at that level, but he definitely can make people forget the likes of Sidney Rice. I project him to end up with 70-80 touches with 1100-1200 yards and 7-8 TDs. At 23 years old, he can only go up from here. For the Minnesota Vikings, the future looks very bright for the former Tennessee Volunteer nicknamed “Flash”.
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