Cordarrelle Patterson

[allday1991]

Look at those stats above: 290 yards and 4 touchdowns on 24 carries! That's a spectacular average of 1 TD every 6 carries and over 12 yards per carry.

That stuck out the most to me, Patterson is a killer running the ball and I don't remember seeing him get one running play at all last season. I very much doubt that he doesn't understand those plays given the stats he has recorded in previous seasons, seems more like a coach or coaches don't like him.

[allday1991]

occasionally those types of plays work, but not over the course of an entire season, especially with a one dimensional player like patterson. sooner or later defensive coaches know it's either a run/short pass to him, or a fake.

I disagree, if defensive coaches focus on those aspect then it's up to our coaches to abuse that fact, a defensive coach can't possible call a play that covers a run, short pass or fake all at the same time.

[Mothman]

occasionally those types of plays work, but not over the course of an entire season, especially with a one dimensional player like patterson. sooner or later defensive coaches know it's either a run/short pass to him, or a fake. if he isn't a factor down the field then it limits what plays where he can contribute, and really limits how the coaches can use him. and yes, those stats look great, but take a look at how he performed in 2014. i've posted it several times, so i won't do it again. he basically had close to the same amount of touches as he had in 2013 with no where near the impact. i just don't understand how this is so complicated.

It's not complicated.

In 2013, he had a creative coordinator using him in a part-time role to which he was well-suited and it paid big dividends. In 2014, he was shoehorned into a starting split end role he wasn't ready to handle yet. He was also playing without Peterson on the field in all but one game and in that one game? He was terrific. As others have pointed out, when defenses key on him, it's up to the coaches to exploit that and when Peterson is on the field, it's tough to key on Patterson in the first place.

just being a great athlete doesn't make you a great, good, or even decent wr. the guy is entering his 4th season, and 3rd in the same system. it's time to start expecting more from a guy who was a 1st round pick.

I do expect more. That's why I want him on the field because it's absolutely impossible for him to produce more from the bench. A playmaker has to play to impact the game. What could be simpler? It's on the coaches as much as Patterson. He's shown he can run a route. He's shown he can make big plays. These things are all on film already. He can't do them from the bench.

I just think they should be able to find a "happy" middle ground between barely using him at all and making him a full-time starter.

[Mothman]

That stuck out the most to me, Patterson is a killer running the ball and I don't remember seeing him get one running play at all last season. I very much doubt that he doesn't understand those plays given the stats he has recorded in previous seasons, seems more like a coach or coaches don't like him.

I think it comes across that way too... they seem to draw a very hard line with him.

[losperros]

It's not complicated.

In 2013, he had a creative coordinator using him in a part-time role to which he was well-suited and it paid big dividends. In 2014, he was shoehorned into a starting split end role he wasn't ready to handle yet. He was also playing without Peterson on the field in all but one game and in that one game? He was terrific. As others have pointed out, when defenses key on him, it's up to the coaches to exploit that and when Peterson is on the field, it's tough to key on Patterson in the first place.

Not only that but any player that can score TDs catching passes, running out of the backfield, and returning kicks is in no way one-dimensional. Patterson can also run routes to catch short, medium, and deep passes. He's done it before and it's on film, which is why that myth should be put to bed.

[Mothman]

Not only that but any player that can score TDs catching passes, running out of the backfield, and returning kicks is in no way one-dimensional. Patterson can also run routes to catch short, medium, and deep passes. He's done it before and it's on film, which is why that myth should be put to bed.

Good point. he's clearly a versatile player.

It seems to come down to details and perhaps, some attitude issues on one or both sides. The coaching staff doesn't seem to trust Patterson to do "the little things" and they've taken a hard line with him about it Perhaps that will ultimately be good. I don't know.

I'd rather see him on the field contributing and learning, even if he has to learn from some mistakes. Zimmer was recently quoted saying the following in regard to his young QB:

"I told him one time during the season, ‘Teddy, I know you know I don’t want you to throw interceptions and I know you don’t want to turn the ball over. But we play pretty good defense, and if, you know, a ball gets tipped or something, don’t worry about it. Just go out and play and be yourself.’ And I think that’s when he plays the best, when he just goes out and plays.”

Why be so forgiving of the idea that one young player might make mistakes while learning and contributing while simultaneously relegating Patterson to the bench? Put him out there, get the ball in his hands and if he's in the wrong place once in a while, use it as a teaching moment and "play pretty good defense".

They just started Wallace for an entire season and he didn't produce much more than Patterson did in 7 starts and some spot play in 2014. What have they got to lose?

[halfgiz]

Why be so forgiving of the idea that one young player might make mistakes while learning and contributing while simultaneously relegating Patterson to the bench? Put him out there, get the ball in his hands and if he's in the wrong place once in a while, use it as a teaching moment and "play pretty good defense".

They just started Wallace for an entire season and he didn't produce much more than Patterson did in 7 starts and some spot play in 2014. What have they got to lose?

Jim I agree most of the times he gets the ball he makes something happen. To much talent to be sitting on the bench.

[slapnut19]

It's not complicated.

In 2013, he had a creative coordinator using him in a part-time role to which he was well-suited and it paid big dividends. In 2014, he was shoehorned into a starting split end role he wasn't ready to handle yet. He was also playing without Peterson on the field in all but one game and in that one game? He was terrific. As others have pointed out, when defenses key on him, it's up to the coaches to exploit that and when Peterson is on the field, it's tough to key on Patterson in the first place.
I do expect more. That's why I want him on the field because it's absolutely impossible for him to produce more from the bench. A playmaker has to play to impact the game. What could be simpler? It's on the coaches as much as Patterson. He's shown he can run a route. He's shown he can make big plays. These things are all on film already. He can't do them from the bench.

I just think they should be able to find a "happy" middle ground between barely using him at all and making him a full-time starter.

you can make excuses for him in 2014 if you want, but the fact is the ball was in his hands a lot, and we didn't see the "playmaker" that all of you say he is.

[slapnut19]

I think it comes across that way too... they seem to draw a very hard line with him.

why do you think that is? i see a front office and coaching staff that seems to be working pretty hard to improve both sides of the ball. why do you think there is some sort of bias towards patterson? i'm pretty sure both zimmer and turner would have had him on the field a lot more if they felt he would improve the offense. i guess i put more faith in our organization than a bunch of guys on a message board, who just want to just manufacture plays for a guy who clearly hasn't done what it takes to get on the field.

[Mothman]

you can make excuses for him in 2014 if you want, but the fact is the ball was in his hands a lot, and we didn't see the "playmaker" that all of you say he is.

I'm not making excuses for him but there were reasons he was less productive.

why do you think that is? i see a front office and coaching staff that seems to be working pretty hard to improve both sides of the ball. why do you think there is some sort of bias towards patterson?

I see a stubborn coaching staff that has overseen regression on offense.

i'm pretty sure both zimmer and turner would have had him on the field a lot more if they felt he would improve the offense. i guess i put more faith in our organization than a bunch of guys on a message board, who just want to just manufacture plays for a guy who clearly hasn't done what it takes to get on the field.

That's one way to characterize it. I don't want them to simply "manufacture" plays for him. I want them utilize and develop him. I don't buy that he's simply a gadget player who can't run a route or get open down the field. That's a conclusion at odds with the evidence.

You're right that it's a question of faith in the coaching staff though. I said that in this thread many, many pages ago. Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to offense this staff hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt.

To me, it's worth noting that Patterson isn't the only receiver who hasn't been a consistent playmaker under this staff. No receiver has really accomplished that yet. Jennings came closest. Wallace took an entire season to produce 6 more catches and 89 more yards receiving than Patterson produced in just 7 starts and spot duty in 2014! If you factor in rushing yards, Patterson produced more yards and the same number of TDs in much more limited playing time in 2014 than Wallace did last year in a full season!

Johnson came on strong briefly in 2014 and then faded quickly.

Diggs came on strong in 2015 and then faded quickly.

Wright's a steady 3rd option. Thielen is a decent backup.

Patterson's drop in production in 2014 strikes me as symptomatic of a larger, deeper problem with the passing game. YMMV.

[mondry]

One thing no one's talking about from the stats that were listed last page.

It said in 59 routes past the LoS he was involved in, 6 INT's occurred. That's a little more than 10%, I don't know what the rates are for other WR's but a 1/10 chance of an int by throwing to him probably explains why they are reluctant to play him and it's a stat that finally shows negative things ARE happening when they send him out beyond the LoS.

He's still too good at the other stuff to completely keep him off the field though and I'm not trying to say what I said above justifies their -grand- approach but thought it was interesting.

[slapnut19]

One thing no one's talking about from the stats that were listed last page.

It said in 59 routes past the LoS he was involved in, 6 INT's occurred. That's a little more than 10%, I don't know what the rates are for other WR's but a 1/10 chance of an int by throwing to him probably explains why they are reluctant to play him and it's a stat that finally shows negative things ARE happening when they send him out beyond the LoS.

He's still too good at the other stuff to completely keep him off the field though and I'm not trying to say what I said above justifies their -grand- approach but thought it was interesting.

i'm sure it's a factor. i'm willing to bet a lot of those ints are on him as well. if he isn't running the right route or executing it properly then no qb will trust him. that kind of plays into what both zimmer and spielman have said about patterson not being consistent enough.

[Mothman]

One thing no one's talking about from the stats that were listed last page.

It said in 59 routes past the LoS he was involved in, 6 INT's occurred. That's a little more than 10%, I don't know what the rates are for other WR's but a 1/10 chance of an int by throwing to him probably explains why they are reluctant to play him and it's a stat that finally shows negative things ARE happening when they send him out beyond the LoS.

It's actually more like a 5% chance, not a 10% chance. He was targeted 146 times. 7 of those passes were intercepted. 5% of 146 is 7.3.

I'm guessing you were looking at the reception number rather than the target number.

5% is still a bit high.

He's still too good at the other stuff to completely keep him off the field though and I'm not trying to say what I said above justifies their -grand- approach but thought it was interesting.

It IS interesting. Unfortunately, without more info, it's impossible to tell how many of those INTs can or should be attributed to his performance. Let's face it, negative things happen anyway. INTs get thrown whether Patterson is on the field or not. I can think of at least one where it looked like he didn't come back to the ball as he should have and the pass was picked but we're talking about 7 picks on passes thrown by perhaps 3 different QBs (Cassel, Bridgewater, Ponder) over 2 seasons. They might all be his fault or maybe just a couple were on him.

It would be interesting to look deeper into it.

[dead_poet]

Interesting read.

Our own @carlknowles_vt spoke with Cordarrelle Patterson's route running coach:

http://vikingsterritory.com/2016/genera ... -patterson

Glass half-full: Patterson's explosiveness/potential and seemingly increased dedication to refining his game.

When I asked him if Patterson was in the coaches dog house, he said he was unaware of any issues with any of the of the Vikings coaching staff. He went on to say that he personally knows and stays in touch with Vikings assistant defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez who told him Patterson has shown a great attitude, is working hard and doing everything that is being asked of him.

Glass half-empty: despite his practice and three year's experience he remains behind a soon-to-be-rookie in terms of route-running ability.

put Calhoun on the spot with my next question as well. Who is the better route-runner rookie Josh Doctson or Patterson?

Calhoun: “Doctson is the better route runner, but Patterson has more explosiveness.” Calhoun said. “Understand that Doctson has been playing wide receiver his entire life. Patterson, on the other hand, was limited more in high school and college with his primary focus be as a runner and returner.”

[losperros]

Great read. Thanks, DP.

This part interested me:

Patterson plays with emotion and character which often comes across as care-free and immature. If Calhoun can instill just a bit more discipline and consistency in Patterson’s game, maybe his incredible upside as a playmaker will outweigh the flamboyance that often comes along with his explosive talent.