Film Room: Vikings' Cordarrelle Patterson a dynamic - and frustrating - talent

It didn't take long for Cordarrelle Patterson to flash a glimpse of his enormous potential - and re-ignite the debate over just how good he can be.

In Cordarrelle Patterson’s first preseason game, he played 21 snaps. Twelve were pass plays. His routes varied from shallow crosses to curls to digs to clear-out routes. It was hard to judge how much he improved on his route running because the routes were vanilla and designed to create room for him to do damage after the catch. Only once did his skills look in question.

It was third-and-7 and Patterson was isolated on the left with an Oakland Raiders cornerback. He had his arms down by his sides, swaying back and forth by his right leg, and seemingly unprepared for the ensuing bump-and-run coverage. The cornerback rolled up to the line of scrimmage and stood flat footed.

When the play began, Patterson showed slight hesitation to the inside and then immediately released outside. The cornerback, meanwhile, didn’t bite on the hesitation and kept his hips square as he awaited the release.

Now working outside, Patterson ran closer and closer to the sideline, struggling to break the cornerback’s jam of his inside shoulder. Instead of sinking his pads and leaning in with the inside shoulder to create separation, he ran tall and diagonally, essentially carrying the cornerback to the first-down marker.

At the sticks, Patterson showed his natural talent by shrugging the cornerback off with a straight left arm and turning back to the throw and hauling it in with only his right hand:

This is the conundrum. Patterson clearly has the raw talent to make any play he wants to - and that his quarterback asks him to. He’s electric and powerful and explosive and physical. Fast. He’s able to shred defenses in the open field with an unreal knack for finding cutback lanes and glimmers of the end zone.

Last season, the Minnesota Vikings coaches put him in position to take advantage of these skills. He ran dig and go and post and crossing routes that allowed him to catch the ball on the go and with a forward lean. It immediately threatened defenses with the potential of a home-run play.

And then there were times last season when Patterson showed he still has a long way to go - that he needs to sharpen his route running and understand where he is on the field. He didn’t create enough room down the sideline on multiple occasions, failing to give his quarterback a place to throw the ball and let him make a play. 

Here’s an example against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11.

The clock was winding down in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss when Patterson was outside the numbers on first-and-10. Isolated in man-to-man coverage with a cornerback, he released outside and dipped his shoulders like a track star to explode downfield. The cornerback bumped him, but it did little.

Running downfield, Patterson looked back for the ball and suddenly started drifting toward the sideline. He was looking for a jump-ball opportunity. But when the ball came in, the cornerback was boxing him out a foot away from out of bounds. This made it nearly impossible to make the play.

But he caught it. With ease, Patterson soared above the cornerback and stole the ball, acrobatically making the grab — with his left foot tapping out of bounds and his right doing the same:

His talent is clearly there. He has the ability to develop into one of the best wide receivers in the NFL once he improves on the technical side of his position.

The first preseason game didn’t showcase improvement in route running or field awareness. There arguably weren’t enough plays and routes ran to showcase it. This contradicts the support he’s received from his coaches and teammates, including quarterback Matt Cassel, who insisted on Patterson’s improvement earlier this offseason.

"I just think his route-running and his ability to recognize defense," Cassel told Fox Sports when asked about where Patterson’s improved most. "I think that's huge for him, and any receiver, as you move forward. The key component, I think, is understanding defenses and how they're trying to attack you and how you work your different releases."

It’s possible that offensive coordinator Norv Turner is keeping his offense and Patterson under wraps until the regular season. Maybe he doesn’t want to show what he’s capable of doing with Patterson’s skills. Or maybe Patterson’s improvement isn't as great as the Vikings maintain.

As expectations rise as high as Patterson soars, the pressure will be on him to come up big when the Vikings need him most.