Eckert’s Examinations: Cordarrelle Patterson Kick Return Study

Today I wanted to examine an often underappreciated facet of the NFL game, kickoff returns. This has become even more true considering the rule changes the NFL made to the play for this upcoming season, and with it will likely come far more return opportunities.

Upon that news, the Pittsburgh Steelers quickly went out and signed Cordarrelle Patterson, who has provided a substantial impact on kickoff returns in his career. The goal of this article is to see what Patterson provided in 2023 compared to players with matching or greater attempts, along with those returner’s career stats to gauge his impact.

Last season, Patterson had seven kickoff returns, and here are the 34 qualifying players’…