Fantasy Sleeper Profile: WR Cordarrelle Patterson
Cordarrelle Patterson is not exactly a “deep” sleeper. He showed explosive playmaking ability late in his rookie season last year, and those impressive performances in the last quarter of 2013 boosted his draft stock enough that you should not expect him to last past the 60th overall selection in your fantasy draft.
During the first three quarters of the 2013 Patterson saw limited snaps and as a result his production was not notable. He had just 469 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season. But Patterson seemed to “get it” near the end of the season, with 215 of those yards and 3 of those touchdowns coming in the last four games of the seasons. That puts Patterson on pace for a solid 860 yards and an outstanding 12 touchdowns over the course of a season if he keeps up that level of play.
Patterson has a wealth of talent on his own right, but what makes him especially valuable for your fantasy team is the situation around him. Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater have both had good preseason performances, so Patterson appears to have some decent talent throwing him the ball in 2014, unlike in 2013 where he sometimes had to rely on the likes of Christian Ponder and Josh Freeman.
A change in Minnesota’s coaching staff will also benefit Patterson. His success in 2013 came despite playing in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s bland offense. New offensive coordinator Norv Turner is sure to find creative ways to get the ball to Patterson, his most dangerous receiving weapon. Last year Turner was the OC of the Cleveland Browns, and his play calling saw Josh Gordon lead the NFL in receiving with 1,646 yards. If he can get anything close to the same amount of production out of Patterson as he did with Gordon, Patterson will be a top NFL receiver.
Another benefit for Patterson is playing on a team with Adrian Peterson. Defenses will often stack the box to attempt to contain Peterson, so Patterson will see light coverage, even 1 on 1 matchups, on many if not most of his routes. This will make it easier for him to catch the ball and also pick up extra yards after the catch.
Throughout the 2014 preseason Patterson has been on the field for the Vikings on nearly every snap the first string has played. That signals Patterson should see the most targets of any Vikings receiver, even over longtime productive vet Greg Jennings. The stars have all aligned to allow Patterson a shot at being a Tier 1 fantasy receiver. As a mid-round pick, that’s quite a bargain.
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