A Change Of Scenery?

On a podcast last week, two Minnesota Vikings beat writers were bashing receiver Laquon Treadwell. While bashing the receiver one of the beat writers suggested that, like Cordarrelle Patterson, perhaps Treadwell would benefit from a change of scenery. I've often heard talking heads say that Patterson benefited from a change of scenery. I've also head talking heads say that the Vikings didn't "use" Patterson properly. I've never understood these opinions. If Patterson has benefited so greatly from this change of scenery, why has he changed that scenery three times since his Minnesota days? If the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots used Patterson so well, why were his three most productive seasons in Minnesota? It's a mystery. It's also a mystery why these talking heads continue to manufacture a Patterson narrative that simply isn't true. Here are his receiving, rushing, and total yards from scrimmage statistics with his ever-changing scenery.


with the Vikings:

Receiving: Year Targets Rec Yards Yds/Rec TD 2013     77 45 469   10.4  4 2014     67 33 384   11.6  1 2015      2 2 10    5.0  0 2016     70 52 453       8.7  2

Rushing:

Year Att Yards Yds/Att TD 2013  12  158   13.2  3 2014  10  117   11.7  1 2015    2  15   7.5  0 2016  7  43    6.1  0

Total yards from scrimmage:

Year	Touches	Yards	Yds/Touch	TD
2013	57	627	11.0	7
2014	43	501	11.7	2
2015	4	25	6.3	0
2016	59	496	8.4	2

with the Raiders

Receiving:

Year	Targets	Rec	Yards	Yds/Rec	TD
2017	42	31	309	10.0	0

Rushing:

Year	Att	Yards	Yds/Att	TD
2017	13	121	9.3	2

Total yards from scrimmage:

Year	Touches	Yards	Yds/Touch	TD
2017	44	430	9.8	2

with the Patriots

Receiving:

Year	Targets	Rec	Yards	Yds/Rec	TD
2018	28	21	247	11.8	3

Rushing:

Year	Att	Yards	Yds/Att	TD
2018	42	228	5.4	1

Total yards from scrimmage:

Year	Touches	Yards	Yds/Touch	TD
2018	63	475	7.5	4

Patterson's very unproductive 2015 season with the Vikings is the outlier. From a team standpoint, it was the best of his four seasons in Minnesota. It was the only playoff appearance of his time with the team. Second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater directed a very ball-control oriented offense. Adrian Peterson led the league in rushing. As a rookie, Stefon Diggs emerged as the top receiving threat. Tight end Kyle Rudolph and veteran receivers Mike Wallace and Jarius Wright were complimentary receiving options. Patterson's role on the offense simply drifted to the side. When those talking heads question the Vikings use of Patterson perhaps it's only the 2015 season that they see. That's being selective with reality to boost their inaccurate take.

It's the Patriots use of Patterson as a running back that really draws the raves from the talking heads. It's probably those rushing attempts that prompted Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to admit that maybe they should've gotten the ball in Patterson's hands a little more often. It was injuries to their running backs that forced the Patriots to use their versatile receiver in the backfield. Half of Patterson's 42 carries that season came in two games:

week 8 vs Bills:

10 carries, 38 yards

week 9 vs Packers:

11 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD

Patterson had nine more mostly ineffective carries over the next two games. That leaves 12 carries over the remaining 12 games in which the Patriots weren't using Patterson as one of their running backs. That's pretty much how the Vikings used him. It was injuries that forced the Patriots to use Patterson in a manner that the Vikings never did.

Cordarrelle Patterson is one of the most gifted runners that I've ever seen. He isn't the sort of runner that should be coming out of the backfield on a regular basis as the Patriots were forced to do for a couple games. He's the sort of runner that should be used on jet sweeps and an occasional backfield carries. He's the sort of receiver that should get the ball on bubble screens and quick hitting plays. He needs a few plays that he can master because he never seemed to ever grasp a full route tree. That's probably why he's now on his fourth team. His presence on the Chicago Bears kinda scares me. A lot. The things that Patterson does well seem to fit the sort of plays that Matt Nagy likes to call. Nagy finds unique ways to get the ball in the hands of unique playmakers. And Patterson is a very unique playmaker. But all of that remains to be seen. From what we have seen from Patterson in his six years in the league is that neither the Raiders or the Patriots used him better than the Vikings. So far, the only change of scenery that's really benefited Patterson is going from college to the NFL. His best season in the NFL is his rookie season.