Cordarrelle Patterson, a career-long reclamation project, brought more than his kick returning talent to Foxborough.
One-handed catches, ankle-breaking jukes and straight-line speed — the veteran special teamer is turning the New England Patriots’ training camp into his personal offensive circus act.
It begs the question: How involved will he actually be in the Patriots’ offensive game-planning?
Help can often come from the most unexpected places, and there is no better example of that than Patterson, a former first-round draft pick teetering towards the path of a journeyman.
The initial thought was that the 27-year-old receiver/return specialist would serve primarily on special teams, while mixing into the offense for an occasional trick play.
No one expected he’d become the most intriguing receiving option on the roster. The real kicker is he only cost the Patriots a swap of a fifth-round draft pick for a sixth-rounder with the Oakland Raiders.
.@ceeflashpee84 JUKIN' people out of their shoes. 😳#PHIvsNE https://t.co/8fzi9doTIy
— NFL (@NFL) August 17, 2018
That rare mixture of size and barometer-bursting speed comes at a perfect time for a Patriot receiving corps facing more questions than answers.
Brandin Cooks, the outside burner the team acquired from the New Orleans Saints last year, was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for a first-round pick in the offseason, and Tom Brady’s favorite receiving target, Julian Edelman, is set to serve a four-game suspension after violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
There was also the Malcolm Mitchell release and the curious case of Danny Amendola opting for the Miami Dolphins in free agency. That leaves Chris Hogan as the only returning Patriots starting receiver from last season.
Patterson’s sudden resurgence as a legitimate receiving threat couldn’t have come at a better time.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1027906278423588865
He showed flashes of those abilities early in his four-year tenure with the Minnesota Vikings before devolving into a full-time special teamer and gadget player. A case could be made the Vikings failed to insert him into their offense properly — an offense that went through seven different starting quarterbacks during his time with the team.
He then went on to join a Raiders team in a down year, when quarterback Derek Carr had his worst statistical performance since his rookie season. It can’t be a mere coincidence that he is suddenly beginning to shine in a Patriot offense that represents his first real taste of stability in the NFL.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s system is constructed around the strengths of each individual talent rather than forcing players into unfamiliar roles.
It’s the place where forgotten players go to change the narrative and rebuild their careers.
Randy Moss, Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon, Aqib Talib, Wes Welker, Roman Phifer, Rob Ninkovich, Mike Vrabel — the list of players that have benefitted from Belichick’s unending Renaissance project goes on and on.
And Patterson, the perceived first-round bust out of the University of Tennessee, will finally have a chance to prove he’s every bit as good as advertised five years ago.
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