When the Minnesota Vikings selected Cordarrelle Patterson with the 29th overall selection of the 2013 NFL Draft, they were probably expecting more production than they’ve received in the first two seasons of the former Vol’s early NFL career.
That’s because Patterson absolutely dazzled fans during his one season at Tennessee.
The former JuCo standout arrived on Rocky Top and immediately filled the void left by Da’Rick Rogers (who was kicked off the team by then head coach Derek Dooley shortly before the 2012 season).
Patterson, in his lone season at UT, caught 46 passes for 778 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 308 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown, becoming the only Vol to score a touchdown in four different ways in one season.
The South Carolina native’s impressive junior season led Patterson to leave Tennessee a year early.
There’s no doubt that Patterson made the right choice to leave early (much to the disappointment of Vol fans), as he became a first round pick.
But what Patterson has delivered during his first two years in the NFL isn’t what the Vikings were hoping to receive — at least not in this era of raised expectations.
Patterson has certainly shown flashes of the talent he displayed in college. He finished his rookie season with 45 receptions for 469 yards and five touchdowns. Patterson also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
After the conclusion of the 2013 season, Patterson was named to the Pro-Bowl (as a kick returner), replacing the injured Antonio Brown.
Patterson’s rookie numbers were modest at best, but analysts and fans still expected a breakout season in 2014 — mostly due to how electric Patterson was with the ball in his hands.
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Unfortunately, Patterson not only failed to improve on his numbers from his rookie season, he actually regressed a bit. He finished the 2014 season with only 33 receptions for 384 yards and one touchdown.
As a result of Patterson’s poor performance in 2014, he lost his starting job to Charles Johnson and slid to fourth on the Vikings’ depth chart.
There’s little doubt that Patterson will use his disappointing 2014 season as motivation to get better in 2015.
In fact, Patterson’s road to improvement has already started.
The former Vol standout spent the early part of the off-season working with an individual known as “hell’s trainer”, according to the Star Tribune.
From The Star Tribune:
"Patterson wasn’t thinking about the sun, sand or mild California weather on that first day on the beach back in late February. Out of breath and his hamstrings burning after just 14 minutes of running hills and doing sprints in the sand, Patterson was completely gassed when the trainer, Frank Matrisciano, told him his first workout was already done.“It was only 14 minutes, but it felt like an hour and a half,” Patterson said last week. “The first time I got there, it was the hardest thing I ever went through — not in life, but working out-wise. It was hard mentally. You’ve got to set your mind aside, because you’re going there to the good weather and hills.”Read more here"
The Vikings’ receiver told the Star Tribune that he felt the 2015 season would “make or break me”, adding that he “spent a lot of time just thinking to myself, ‘How can I get better?'”
That line of think led Patterson to spend four weeks training with Frank Matrisciano (the aforementioned “hell’s trainer”). His workouts grew in length, from the first 14 minute workout, up to 50 minutes at the end of their time together.
And don’t think that Patterson is stopping there. After going through team workouts in early summer, most players take time for themselves, but not Patterson.
According to the Star Tribune, Patterson will spend another four weeks with Matrisciano, prior to the start of training camp.
It’s clear that Cordarrelle Patterson is putting in the work to become the player the Vikings hoped he would become when they made him a first round draft pick two years ago.
No one knows if the extra work will pay off, but one thing is certain — it’ll be great for football fans everywhere if it does.
Cordarrelle Patterson is one of the most exciting players in the league to watch. Let’s hope we get to see plenty of him in 2015.