The Minnesota Vikings have some players in need of proving themselves in order for the franchise to meet the raised expectations of 2015. While Teddy Bridgewater looks to capitalize off the momentum of his rookie season, much of that will depend on how other players develop in training camp. The wide receiver rotation is an area of focus as both Cordarrelle Patterson and Mike Wallace have a lot to show in the upcoming season.
Patterson is on thin ice. The former first-round draft pick has yet to look like the receiver many expected him to be. The versatile athlete has struggled to really find his place in the offense and head coach Mike Zimmer and coordinator Norv Turner both have said they need to see more from Patterson in training camp and so far it is more inconsistencies for the receiver.
"Cordarrelle is on a good track right now, OK? Now, can he sustain? Can he continue to sustain what he's doing? Because like today, I thought he had a good day," Zimmer said, via USA Today. "In OTAs, I thought he improved. He'll have really good days, and then he'll have some not-so-good days. Really, I think what he needs to do is just the consistency every single day and the consistency in studying, the consistency in getting extra help that he needs if he needs it, running the routes the same all the time and understanding that there's a lot of great athletes that play professional sports, and there's a lot of great athletes that don't make it in professional sports because they don't have the other intangibles. To me, the biggest thing with him is that: Does he want to be 'Flash' or does he want to be a great receiver? I'm not trying to dog him or anything, but that's really what it is."
Much of Patterson's future will be dictated by what the other receivers do on the field. At the moment, Charles Johnson, Mike Wallace and Jarius Wright are penciled in as the starting three receivers for Bridgewater to work with. Out of that rotation, Wallace is under the most heat after a failed stint with the Miami Dolphins which left him on the trade market. Wallace is expected to excel with the Vikings, but he knows that nothing is guaranteed and he has a lot to prove after his talent was put into question.
"I definitely have something to prove," Wallace said, via 1500 ESPN. "Everyone knows why I'm here. I have a lot to prove, man."
Turner told the media that he has a lot of confidence in the offense in place with Minnesota. Adding in Adrian Peterson and a healthy Kyle Rudoph into the mix and the Vikings should have no issues looking like an improved team.
