Oakland Raiders: Predicting the next pieces to fall in offseason of change
By Kevin Saito
Cordarrelle Patterson ($3M)
Patterson is a tremendous athlete. There’s no question about that. It also should go without saying that Todd Downing didn’t know how to properly use Patterson and underutilized him in a big way on the offensive side of things.
Though he had 31 receptions and 13 rushing attempts, Patterson was primarily brought in to breathe life into Oakland’s special teams. He was supposed to put a jolt of electricity into the team’s return game.
Suffice it to say, he didn’t.
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On 19 kick returns, Patterson averaged 28.3 yards per return – the second lowest total of his career. In his second year in Minnesota, he averaged 25.6 yards per return – coincidentally, that was the only other year, aside from last season, when he didn’t return at least one for a touchdown.
Compared to last season’s return game, Patterson didn’t provide much of a boost in production. In 2016, Jalen Richard primarily handled kick return duties and averaged 23.6 yards per return, as well as punt return duties, averaging nine yards per return.
Patterson’s effect on Oakland’s return game was negligible. At best. He certainly didn’t live up to the hype that surrounded his arrival from some quarters of the Raider Nation.
Could Gruden and company utilize him better – especially on the offensive side of things? Perhaps. But then, we might possibly never know.
It seems more than likely that Patterson is going to be a victim of the numbers game. A casualty of the salary cap. Cutting him – and saving the extra $3 million – could help enable the team to pick up a more valuable piece of the puzzle.
They’ll be able to find solid special teamers in the later rounds of the draft as well as after the draft, when they comb through the ranks of the UDFA’s. Replacing Patterson’s production won’t be all that difficult. And it will also undoubtedly be cheaper.