Should Patterson be the primary kickoff returner?

[Mothman]

During the broadcast of the Vikings/Cardinals game on Saturday, Pete Bercich expressed his view that the Vikings probably won't use Patterson as their main kickoff returner in 2014, but will likely use him as a return man here and there, in important game situations. His thinking was that Patterson is already becoming too valuable to the Vikings on offense to risk injury by using him as the primary return man.

What do you think? Patterson established himself as one of the best returners in the league last year. Should the Vikings forego using a him on most (or all) kickoffs or is he too much of a weapon as a returner to not give him those opportunities?

[losperros]

What's best for the team? Definitely having their best players do the things they do well.

Patterson is one of the best KO returners not just on the team but in the league. That's a big time weapon.

In my view, it would be madness if the Vikings don't utilize Patterson's skills in that way.

[dead_poet]

I recall bringing up the topic of special teams injuries in relation to other injuries but can't recall that information now. I don't know if there is conclusive proof that return guys sustain more injuries other than they have the possibility of sustaining more due to being in a few more plays per game.

That said, Patterson is a game-changing returner. I'd use him on kickoffs. I hate giving the other team an advantage by taking a prolific scoring weapon off the field. Feels like a bit like you're doing them a favor.

[Mothman]

I'm with you guys: I just don't like the idea of not allowing an elite return man to do his thing. It really does seem like doing the other team a favor.

[Eli]

Until he proves to be more (frankly, much more) of a receiving threat, hell yeah, he should be returning kicks. When he becomes that guy catching 40, 60, 80 yard passes on a regular basis, then you pull him from KR duty.

[dead_poet]

When he becomes that guy catching 40, 60, 80 yard passes on a regular basis, then you pull him from KR duty.

Why?

[Eli]

Why?

a. because then he's arguably more valuable as a receiver
b. because the offense takes the field following a return

It's pretty common to pull a young receiver from return duties once he becomes a more valuable receiver. Both because of the risk of injury and also so they can concentrate on what they do best and be fresher and more of a weapon when the offense takes the field.

[J. Kapp 11]

Yes, he should.

Cordarelle Patterson doesn't even have to touch the ball to have tremendous value on kickoff returns.

Think about it. Unless your kicker can drive the ball completely OUT of the end zone, Patterson is going to return it. He's shown that 5 yards deep, 9 yards deep, doesn't matter. He's bringing it out, and he's very likely to bring it out past the 20.

As a result, we all saw what a lot of teams did last year purely out of fear. They squibbed the kick so Patterson couldn't return it. That gave the Vikings field position at the 30 yard line or greater -- practically every time.

Put him back there.

[maembe]

Absolutely, especially with how rare kick returns are nowadays. Half the time he doesn't even have to return them because people are kicking away from him anyway.

The NFL average for kickoff return yards is around 24ish, CP was good for 32.4. What this ignores is the fact that a bunch of those were squib and short kicks, which artificially deflated his return yards. I would guess that Patterson accounts for at least 10 additional yards of field position above an average kick returner, which is pretty huge. It would be interesting if someone actually calculated that statistic though, I'd like to see what it would say.

Long story short, that's a pretty huge benefit to give up for a pretty small risk of injury.

[DK Sweets]

I think the main idea is to keep him fresh. You don't want your best receiver catching his breath when Sherels or somebody else can take the average kick. Cordarelle can take the kickoffs when he needs to, but I think for the most part, I'd rather have him on offense.

Although, I do see why many people disagree.

[Eli]

I think the main idea is to keep him fresh. You don't want your best receiver catching his breath when Sherels or somebody else can take the average kick. Cordarelle can take the kickoffs when he needs to, but I think for the most part, I'd rather have him on offense.

Although, I do see why many people disagree.

He's not yet at the point where he can be called the Vikings' best receiver. Counting Rudolph, I'd put him at a (distant) no. 3 right now. That may change in the future, maybe even sometime this season, but at the moment the best you can say about him is that he's a very explosive player who might break a big play on any touch. Which is why he should continue taking kickoffs.

[Demi]

I picked no, but that's assuming he's going to get a better look on offense. Between the injury risk, and the impact it could have on the following drive on offense, I'd rather he focused on that!

[S197]

Field position and momentum are huge in football and both can be altered rapidly by a great returner. I think part of the reason he was drafted so high, a mitigant to his rawness if you will, is his return ability so there's not much of a reason to under utilize one of his biggest strengths.

[mondry]

He's not yet at the point where he can be called the Vikings' best receiver. Counting Rudolph, I'd put him at a (distant) no. 3 right now. That may change in the future, maybe even sometime this season, but at the moment the best you can say about him is that he's a very explosive player who might break a big play on any touch. Which is why he should continue taking kickoffs.

Exactly, and the key word there is ANY touch. And since getting him the football is most of the issue right now, fielding a kick is one of the easiest ways to manufacture a touch for him. He doesn't have to run a good route, the Qb doesn't have to throw a perfect ball that hits him in stride so he can get the YAC, he just has to catch the kick and go.

Having him on the field for one more play isn't worth losing his kick returning ability and that's really all this is. He returns the kick, even if he sits out one play, big deal. In other words, no one else can return kicks like him, but as of right now, there's not much of a drop if we have to go jennings, simpson, right, instead of jennings, patterson, simpson for one play.

[oldskoolvikingfan]

Field position and momentum are huge in football and both can be altered rapidly by a great returner. I think part of the reason he was drafted so high, a mitigant to his rawness if you will, is his return ability so there's not much of a reason to under utilize one of his biggest strengths.

Agreed. We need patterson out there to return kickoffs because even if he doesn't take it to the house every time, he still can get us out to the 40 or 50 yard line and give us great field position. Also we did draft Patterson for his rare returning abilities so why the heck would we not use him for returns?