Pittsburgh Steelers RB Cordarrelle Patterson is dealing with an ankle injury, but we haven’t seen the last of him. While the Steelers signed him to return kicks, he is more than proving his worth on offense. On Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin made clear that Patterson is an expanding part of their plans in that regard.
“He was playing extremely well, but we’re not surprised by that”, Tomlin said of Patterson, via the Steelers’ website. “He’s a dynamic guy. We’re excited about continually including him in what we do”.
A former first-round pick now in his 12th season, Cordarrelle Patterson is versed in multiple roles. He broke into the league as a wide receive, but converted full-time to running back in 2021. That came under current Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. But while he is in the running back room, the Steelers are not limiting him to that.
Already, the Steelers have used Patterson as a wide receiver, and he does have five catches the past two weeks. He is seeing increased playing time due to Jaylen Warren’s injury, but they were already using him before that.
In the Steelers’ 27-24 loss to the Colts, Patterson recorded six carries for 43 yards before exiting with an ankle injury. While the offensive line seemed to block more effectively for him, he also showed decisiveness and explosiveness.
For the entirety of his career, Patterson has primarily excelled as an elite kick returner. He has nearly 8,000 career kick return yards with an NFL-record nine touchdowns. Despite playing four games, he hasn’t had the opportunity to even return one yet with the Steelers.
He does, however, have 92 rushing yards on 16 carries and 34 receiving yards on five receptions. While Patterson will never be a staple of the offense behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren assuming full health, he is an effective complement due to his diverse skill set in comparison.
It is unclear if the Steelers will have Warren back this week, as he is dealing with a knee injury. With Cordarrelle Patterson also entering the week questionable, the Steelers have real depth concerns. They called up Aaron Shampklin from the practice squad last week, and just yesterday, they added La’Mical Perine to their practice squad. Perine spent time with the team in training camp.
Najee Harris only rushed for 19 yards on 13 carries on Sunday, which has given way to many commentators observing the differences in the effectiveness of the Steelers’ run game versus the Colts when Patterson was carrying the ball.
However, the Colts did not play with as many players in the box when Patterson was in the game. The Steelers also blocked up those plays better, by and large. I don’t think we can say a great deal about Harris simply based on Patterson’s performance, as it lacks nuance.
What we can say is that Patterson has capitalized on the opportunities the Steelers have given him so far. And that’s all they can ask of him. The more that he manages to do that, the more opportunities he will get.
