Cordarrelle Patterson’s time with the Vikings was complicated.
Patterson, a former wide receiver and returner for the Vikings, was drafted in the first round.
He showed some promise for the Vikings, but ultimately never totaled more than 500 yards receiving, and ended up leaving the team for the Raiders.
Eventually he landed with the Patriots, where he became a very effective return man and role player for the team.
He wasn’t as good as Devin Hester in the return game, but this decade, Patterson was named to NFL.com’s All-Decade Team for kick returning, alongside Hester.
Patterson succeeded with the Vikings in the return game at times, tallying 1,393 return yards and two touchdowns in 2013, his first season in the NFL. He currently has 6,101 return yards with his career and seven total touchdowns.
His best average per kick return was with Minnesota in 2015, where he had 31.8 yards per return.
I think Vikings fans expected him to be a wide-receiver one, and Patterson never lived up to that, but he still has put together a career as a stellar special teams player.
