Pre-NFL Draft Dynasty WR Rankings Countdown—No. 1
Bill Byrne, Featured Analyst, Rosterwatch.com

Photo By Alex Dunlap

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Number 1

1. Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee, 6’1″ 7/8”, 216 pounds, 4.42 –

Patterson is frustratingly hard to evaluate because his upside is so high and he is so raw.

In the end, you simply cannot ignore his unlimited upside and game-breaking potential. With his strength, quickness and acceleration, he can beat the jam consistently, even though he could be much more physical in releasing. He tends to struggle against big aggressive corners, allowing them to relatively easily disrupt his routes. For his size, Patterson changes direction incredibly well which—despite his poor route running—allowed him to create separation at every level. He makes dynamic cuts that showcase tremendous acceleration, putting his foot in the ground and exploding up-field.

There’s no question that he possess No. 1 wide receiver tools and the greatest “wow” factor of this class. It is his is run-after-catch ability that jumps off the video, as he combines quick changes of direction and raw speed with outstanding vision in the open field.

For his size, Patterson may be the most elusive player I’ve ever watched.

Patterson is always a threat to break a big play. In addition to ability as a wide receiver, he also projects as a dynamic return man on kick- offs as well as a threat on reverses and gadget plays.

Patterson is raw and has many things to work on. He is a very undisciplined, unpolished route runner. He doesn’t explode out of his breaks real well and he body catches way too much. The only time he extends his hands to catch the football is when it’s outside of his frame. When the ball does come to him outside his body, Patterson shows the ability to attack and high-point the ball.

At this stage of his development, he is not the type of receiver that will often out-muscle for contested balls in traffic. He also loses focus too frequently, causing him to drop passes (his drop of a wide open TD pass against Georgia sticks in my mind), fumble, or otherwise get careless during plays (his “give-up” on a route against Akron was directly responsible for a pick-six).

There were stretches in games where he just looked disinterested. Other times he would try to do too much with the ball in the open field and lose yardage as a result.

Patterson transferred from junior college and started for the Volunteers in week one. Can
you really expect a finished product from what essentially amounts to a freshman in college? Patterson doesn’t have any major character red flags. But he will need time to develop into an NFL wide receiver. The real key to Cordarrelle Patterson is this: How badly does he want to be great? If he wants it badly enough, he could become the league’s next great receiver. Or he could be the next talented bust.