Player: RB Cordarrelle Patterson
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Since returning from his ankle injury, Cordarrelle Patterson hasn’t looked like the same player. In a word, he has looked slow—plodding being another word. Ineffective. We could keep going, really, but he is not justifying his offensive usage. Equally concerning, he doesn’t look worthy of the job the Steelers are paying him $3 million to do: return kicks.
The Steelers thought they pulled one over on the league when they agreed to terms with Cordarrelle Patterson on a two-year, $6 million contract. The move came on the same day the NFL revolutionized its kick return rules, but the Steelers haven’t seen returns.
In actuality, Patterson has only returned five kicks this season, and we can’t explain that so simply. Yes, he missed time due to injury, and the Steelers have one of the best scoring defenses. But he ranks tied for 40th in returns, including behind many with fewer games played. More concerning than the volume is the quality, as he is managing just 19 yards per return.
Patterson’s teammates will occasionally refer to him as a Hall of Famer based on his kick return resume. They like to assume he will make it after setting an NFL kick return touchdown record. But if he ever makes it, it won’t be based on anything he did in Pittsburgh.
While he looked fairly fleet of foot earlier this season, it didn’t last long. After a few nifty carries in Week 4, he suffered an ankle injury and missed four games. Cordarrelle Patterson has been back for three weeks, but you wouldn’t know it.
At least you wouldn’t have noticed him in any positive way since then. He has been on the wrong end of some negative plays, like the red-zone sweep that lost two yards last Thursday. The Steelers didn’t sign Patterson primarily to play on offense. But when they do put him out there, he needs to look like the defense should respect him. I don’t know how much the ankle remains an issue, but if the answer isn’t “a lot”, he has a bigger problem.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
