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Good things come to those who wait.
The saying holds especially true to those who invested a late pick in their fantasy drafts on exciting rookie, Cordarrelle Patterson. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Patterson saw a total of 150 offensive snaps. That’s gotta be a joke, right? An elite talent who can hit a home run on any play, seeing just under 17 snaps per game? Pathetic. However, over his last four contests, the dynamic rookie has played 187 snaps, averaging over 46 per contest during that span.
It’s about time.
During his span of uptick in usage, Patterson has been targeted a healthy 32 times, resulting in 17 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown. It’s been exciting to watch, and fantasy owners can finally begin to enter Patterson into at least flex territory for the rest of the season. His recent play has reminded people that this is still an elite asset in dynasty leagues, as you’d be hard-pressed to find a more explosive, deadly player in space among rookies right now. Especially when you consider that the Vikings will hopefully try to draft a talented quarterback to help their passing offense. Sure, Patterson is far from a finished product. He’s still a bit raw, displaying less than perfect route-running or hands, but now that Minnesota is finally getting him involved in the offense, I find myself all giddy inside.
There are always those players who you pray will get the football far more than they normally do. C.J. Spiller and Shane Vereen come to mind, but Patterson falls into that category as well. The Vikings can’t sit there and hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson every play, and it appears they are finally realizing what they have in their rookie receiver. This increase in snaps is enough for me to consider him a very strong play in Week 15.
Minnesota faces the red hot Philadelphia Eagles next week, and while their defense has been improving, they are still very susceptible to the passing game. On the season, the Eagles have surrendered the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers (39.43). Also, Philadelphia has been particularly weak against opposing number two wideouts, and considering Patterson has emerged into the Vikings number two, the matchup gets even better. This season, the Eagles have allowed six secondary receivers to finish as top-12 fantasy wide receivers. Patterson, of course, also has been a monster in the return game, leading the league in return average (33.3) and taking two kicks to the house. He always has the opportunity to break one, especially this week after the Eagles allowed Jeremy Ross to score two special teams touchdowns on Sunday. And, of course, the Vikings could very well be trailing in this game, which will present even more opportunity for Patterson.
The Tennessee product is finally on the re-draft radar, but has reminded owners that he is a top-notch dynasty investment.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
