Cordarrelle Patterson's Fantasy Stock Will Rise with Teddy Bridgewater at QB

With Teddy Bridgewater taking over for Matt Cassel in Minnesota, Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson looks poised to get his 2014 campaign on track.

Patterson entered the season as a trendy sleeper pick, but his numbers have so far been underwhelming outside of his Week 1 outburst on the ground against the St. Louis Rams. You can view his week-by-week stats below.

Week	Rec.	Yards	TDs	Targets	Carries	Rush Yds.	TDs
1	3	26	0	5	3	102	1
2	4	56	0	7	0	0	0
3	4	61	0	5	1	-7	0

With Cassel under center, Patterson—or any Vikings receiver for that matter—stares up at a glass ceiling when it comes to his fantasy value. Cassel's a good starting quarterback, but rarely will he go much above 250 yards passing in a game. Over the last five years, he's averaged 199.2 yards a game, according to Pro-Football-Reference.

Bridgewater, while unproven, will be a welcome change for the Vikings. He may struggle early on, but his best is better than Cassel's best.

From a stylistic perspective, the rookie offers a more versatile set of weapons than does the more one-dimensional Cassel. While he won't be confused for Cam Newton, Bridgewater's much faster than some give him credit for. He can buy some time for himself in the pocket, which has a knock-on effect for the rest of the offense.

Head coach Mike Zimmer believes that Bridgewater's mobility will give opposing defenses a few problems.

"It does add a lot," Zimmer said, per ESPN.com's Ben Goessling. "You tend to worry about him running so usually it slows the rush down a little bit typically. It keeps some of the coverages that you might normally get because you’re nervous about the guy running." 

If defensive backs have to give even a passing thought that Bridgewater might tuck the ball and run, then that split-second lost could offer Patterson a small window to get open. In addition, the longer Bridgewater can hold the ball, the more time Patterson has to peel off the defensive back.

Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press explains in the video below that Bridgewater's promotion will also lead to a different offensive strategy for Minnesota, which would involve more short passes.

That would be a welcome sight for those fantasy owners who are starting Patterson. Any time the second-year star has the ball in his hands, he can do something special. At the very least, he can turn a five-yard slant over the middle into a 10- or 20-yard gain.

Independent of who the starting quarterback is, offensive coordinator Norv Turner said that he'd like to get Patterson more touches, which is also more good news for fantasy owners, per Master Tesfatsion of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis:

"

We need to continue to find balance. When everyone talks about balance, they think it’s run and pass. It’s balance in terms of getting all of our players involved. In my experience when they’re going good, they take someone away or concentrate on someone to give someone else the opportunity. Cordarrelle is a different situation he was a year ago. He’s growing and teams are matching with him and they’re concentrating on him. We’ve got to continue to work ways to get him the ball.

"

With Adrian Peterson still on the exempt list, somebody's got to step up for the Vikings offensively; it might as well be Patterson.

Expectations should be tempered a bit. USA Today's Tom Pelissero wrote that recent history has been unkind to rookie quarterbacks who took over in the middle of the season:

"

Of the 28 quarterbacks drafted in the first round from 2004 to 2013, 11 entered the starting lineup after Week 1 as rookies. Just two, Ben Roethlisberger and Vince Young, led their teams to winning records that season. Eli Manning and Jay Cutler are among the memorable flops, though both have recovered since.

"

As long as Peterson's gone, Bridgewater won't be playing at a Pro Bowl-type level. But he should be better than Cassel and help to tease out more of Patterson's game-breaking ability.

You should still remain cautiously optimistic with Patterson and wait a few weeks before you slot him in as a WR2 on your team. For now, he's a good flex option.