Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 9 vs. Washington
Cordarrelle Patterson is officially listed as questionable with a foot injury, but he's expected to play this weekend. He's coming off of his best receiving game of the season (6-86). He had more combined yards (96) in his last game than his last four games combined.
The biggest takeaway from last week is Patterson's 12 targets. The Vikings really wanted to give him the ball. If they follow the same strategy, he should be in for another good performance in a favorable matchup.
He's a risky play because of his season so far, but he still holds some value. Patterson is a boom-or-bust WR3/4 play.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 8 vs. Tampa Bay
Cordarrelle Patterson caught his first receiving touchdown of the season last week, but he still didn't have a great game. He finished with two receptions for nine yards on four targets. He's now been held to under 20 yards in three consecutive games. He also has just two receptions in each of his last four games.
Patterson's been a huge letdown this season. The playmaking wideout is barely involved in the team's offense. He has a chance to turn things around this week in a favorable matchup. The Buccaneers are allowing the most fantasy points to opposing wideouts this season.
It's difficult to trust Patterson even in a solid matchup. He should be viewed as a WR4, but still with some big play potential.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 7 vs. Buffalo
Cordarrelle Patterson continues to upset fantasy owners with yet another bad game. He now has three consecutive games with just two receptions. He also has a combined 61 yards in those games. The promising stat is he was targeted eight times last week. At least the Vikings are attempting to give him the ball.
He'll get a favorable matchup this week against Buffalo and could turn things around, but he's still a very risky option. He's not worth much more than a WR4 start at this point.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 6 vs. Detroit
Cordarrelle Patterson owners have to be frustrated with his performance so far. He's coming off back-to-back games with just two touches on offense for a combined 46 yards. Patterson's teammate Jarius Wright has more receiving yards on the season than him.
On top of his poor performance, he's questionable to play this week with a hip injury. He was a limited participant in both Wednesday and Thursday practice. To make matters even worse, he gets a tough opponent this week against Detroit. The Lions have only allowed two touchdowns to receivers on the season.
When you mix all of these bad components together, you get a bad option in fantasy. He should be used as a WR4. There's always potential for Patterson given his big play ability, but we just haven't seen much of it this season, and the usage is concerning.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 5 vs. Green Bay
Cordarrelle Patterson has been a frustrating option for fantasy owners. What's even more frustrating is he put up a season low for receptions (2) in Teddy Bridgewater's first career game. The rookie QB only targeted Patterson four times in Week 4. He also only finished with 38 of Bridgewater's 317 passing yards.
The only promising news for Patterson is he gets a better option at quarterback. Bridgewater looked much better than Matt Cassel and could help turn Patterson's season around. It may not happen this week, however as the Vikings face Green Bay.
The Packers aren't an easy matchup and Bridgewater is playing on a bum ankle. Patterson should be used as a WR3 or WR4.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 4 vs. Atlanta Falcons
Cordarrelle Patterson will have a new quarterback throwing him the ball this week. With Matt Cassel placed on injured reserve, we'll get to see how often Teddy Bridgewater targets his playmaking receiver. Patterson exploded in Week 1 with 128 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, but he's been a bit of a disappointment since then.
He'll go up against the Falcons this week. Atlanta is average against the pass and has allowed a touchdown to a receiver in every game this season. Patterson's ability to break a big play always makes him worth a start. He should be used as a low WR2, or high WR3.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 3 vs. New Orleans
Cordarrelle Patterson led the Vikings in receiving yards last week with 56 yards on four receptions. It's a little surprising the Vikings didn't give Patterson a rushing attempt in Week 2 after his 67-yard touchdown run the week before. The Vikings were without Adrian Peterson, and will continue to be without him for a while. Patterson has shown his rushing ability this season, and at the end of last season.
It's worth noting Patterson was added to the Vikings' injury report on Friday (chest). It's not clear how serious this injury is, but it's worth keeping an eye on until Sunday.
Patterson draws a favorable matchup in Week 3 as the Saints struggled against big-play receivers in Week 1. Julio Jones, Devin Hester, Roddy White and Harry Douglas all had 69 yards or more against the Saints.
Patterson's big-play ability makes him a player you want to keep in your lineup every week. He should be viewed as a WR2 with upside.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 2 vs. New England
If you were just looking at the receiving numbers Cordarrelle Patterson had a poor Week 1. He caught just three passes for 26 yards on five targets. But Patterson's such a talented player he was able to find success in other ways.
The second-year wideout carried the ball three times for Minnesota and busted out for a 67-yard TD run in the third quarter. He had success running the ball last season, so expect him to continue to get carries and make an impact on the ground.
He doesn't draw a favorable matchup this week against New England in terms of receiving. But his playmaking abilities offsets the team's conservative passing game. He'll likely be used as a rusher again in this game, and New England struggled to stop the run in Week 1.
Patterson has a high ceiling and should be viewed as a boom-or-bust type WR2/3 this week.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Week 1 vs. St. Louis
"We need to get Cordarrelle (Patterson) the ball and we need to find different ways of doing it." That's what offensive coordinator Norv Turner said about the second-year Vikings receiver. It's a promising quote because Patterson is guy who can do something with the ball once he gets his touches.
Patterson had at least one rushing attempt in each of the Vikings' last five games in 2013. In that five-game span he had 10 carries for 156 yards and three touchdowns. If Turner sticks to his word and gives Patterson the ball in different ways he could be a dangerous weapon in fantasy.
He has a decent matchup against St. Louis this week and should be viewed as a WR2.
Fantasy Upside
Cordarrelle Patterson took some time to get going as a rookie last year. He was sparingly used during the first half of the season making his overall season stats look unimpressive (45 rec., 469 yards, 4 TD). But when Minnesota started giving CP touches he took over. From Week 14 to Week 17 Patterson averaged 86 yards per game (rushing and receiving) and scored five of his seven touchdowns.
Patterson is one of the NFL’s best young playmakers. He can catch, run and return. He saw a total of 12 carries last season and ran for 158 yards and three scores. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns for a total of nine scores.
He also will enter Norv Turner’s offense, which has led to success for receivers in the past (Vincent Jackson, Josh Gordon).
Fantasy Downside
While Patterson’s success at the end of last year was promising, let’s not act like he was breaking records. He only had one game over 100 receiving yards and had just seven catches of at least 20 yards. He only averaged 10.4 yards per catch, which is really low for a guy with Patterson’s speed.
Also, the Vikings’ offensive system is worrisome. Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater aren’t the sexiest options at the quarterback position. On top of that, Minnesota will operate in a run-focused system.
Bottom Line
Patterson has a lot of potential this season. He should emerge as the top target in Minnesota’s passing game, which is an improvement from a season ago. His current ADP has him being selected in round four, which seems early for a wideout who had just 469 receiving yards last year.
CP is a breakout candidate this season, but that doesn’t make him a safe pick. There’s plenty of risk selecting Patterson in the 4th.
