Vikings: Increased Role For Patterson

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

In the days prior to the 2013 NFL draft I couldn’t help but think “It’s too bad the Vikes don’t have a shot at getting that Patterson kid out of Tennessee.”  I figured he would be gone in the top 15 for sure. Then after drafting Floyd and Rhodes, I was thrilled with what they had acquired, but I’ll admit I was a little bummed out they didn’t pull the trigger to get the big, fast, physical wideout with jaw dropping ball skills. So I of course stop paying attention until I got the text from my father saying they had traded back into the first round. My first thought, like most others was “Manti Teo”, who I really was not excited about at all, but that angst quickly turned to joy when Roger announced the pick.

These past two weeks I have called out Musgrave’s ineptitude in regards to numerous areas of the offensive scheme, but whats upset me the most is his gametime personnel decisions. why isn’t this man giving the playmakers every opportunity to have the ball in their hands? Why, when every other team has their hot shot rookies on display, does this man keep one of the most explosive playmakers in the class on the sidelines? When he does give the kid a chance he makes plays. Patterson has only seen 11 offensive snaps, and been targeted just 3 times. He caught all 3 targets for a total of 24 yards, and he showed what he can do with the ball in his hands on the opening kickoff of last weeks game.

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Well, it looks like the Coaches may have finally gotten a clue. In regards to the wideout, Coach Frazier had this to say: “He definitely deserves to be on the field more. He’s shown that in the first few snaps he’s gotten in these first two ballgames. Hopefully, everything being equal, that should be a part of the conversation [this] week.” It’s about time they opened their eyes. Playmakers make plays, and in an offense that sorely needs a spark I think this kid will do just that. Now lets hope that Musgrave has it in him to design some creative ways to get 84 the ball so that things will open up for the other weapons on the field.

SKOL!

-Jordan Nadel

@disko37