Cordarrelle Patterson's fall from grace has certainly been steep. The wide receiver continues to drift towards the "bust category" as he fails to live up to his first-round hype. There is no denying the dynamic abilities of Patterson. He displayed that in Week 1 of 2014 when he rushed for 102 yards on three carries. However, that has been his best game of the past two years and the Minnesota Vikings' patience has worn off. Now the team is making move that puts the former No. 29 pick on the bench.
Patterson's stat line in Week 13 likely pushed Minnesota over the edge. The wide receiver did not play in the first half of the game after missing most of practice during the week and then got into the second half, but failed to make a catch or have a pass thrown in his direction. He put up zeros across the board, something that might happen again as the Vikings announce Patterson will be benched.
According to offensive coordinator Norv Turner, Charles Johnson will be taking the place of Patterson in the offense. Fantasy owners should react immediately. The Vikings grabbed Johnson in September off the Cleveland Browns' practice squad where he sat recovering from a previous injury. Turner has been very impressed with Johnson over the last few weeks, but cannot say the same about Patterson.
"CJ is playing at a high level," Turner said, via ESPN.com's Ben Goessling. "CJ is the starter at X. That's the position Cordarrelle plays. We're going to do what we can to give him some opportunities to play there, but CJ's playing at a real high level right now."
Turner noted that he was certain Patterson was frustrated with the way the season was going. The coordinator has been critical of the second-year pro in the past and this move cements it. It is unknown if the benching of Patterson is permanent. Turner hinted that he will get into the game, but Johnson gives the team a better shot at winning.
"But Cordarrelle knows. He wasn't here all week," Turner said. He missed Monday and Tuesday -- Monday, we have our meetings -- he missed Wednesday and Thursday, he was out of town at a funeral. It's hard to get ready; we have a totally different game plan for Carolina. And then you combine it with blocking two punts in the first half, and us not really having the ball. I expect Cordarrelle to play, and play like he has."
The starting receiver's spots for the Vikings will likely consist of Greg Jennings, Johnson and Jarius Wright. Teddy Bridgewater has done his best work with those three players and they will likely hold down the offensive attack unless someone starts to struggle.
