Fantasy Football: 5 bold predictions for Week 5
By Nick Villano
Bold Prediction #1: Cordarrelle Patterson keeps up his ridiculous pace
The Atlanta Falcons have unlocked what four previous teams could not do. They found a way to make Cordarrelle Patterson useful outside of special teams. He’s been one of the best kick returners in the league, but like Dante Hall and Devin Hester before him, teams have trouble figuring out how else to use kick returners on offense.
Last week, the Falcons used him on just 23 offensive snaps, but he ended up scoring three touchdowns. Of those 23 snaps, he touched the ball 11 times. Is that unsustainable? Teams have had trouble changing their philosophies on the fly before, so they may not be able to switch it up that quickly here, either.
Patterson has been pretty consistent in the percentage of offense he is given. Every week, he gets between 23 and 26 snaps. He absolutely won’t get three touchdowns every week, but it’s clear when the Falcons are in scoring position, Patterson is the man they are looking for.
Patterson is facing a New York Jets defense that’s allowed the most points to running backs this season. They average over 33 points per game in standard scoring. Patterson is going to have a big week this week.