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On Friday, the Associated Press announced their All-Pro teams for the 2016 NFL season. Sadly for fans of the Minnesota Vikings, only one player on the squad made the cut.
For the second time in his NFL career, Cordarrelle Patterson was named a First-Team All-Pro as a kick return specialist. He also garnered that honor in his rookie season of 2013.
Patterson led the National Football League this season with a 31.7 yards/return average. This is the third time that he’s led the league in kick return average, having also done so in 2013 and 2014. He had one kick return for a touchdown this season, a 104-yard return against the Arizona Cardinals to start the second half of that contest. That return gave him five kick return touchdowns in his career, tying him for the all-time franchise lead in return touchdowns with Percy Harvin and Marcus Sherels.
Patterson’s vote advantage was decisive, as he received 41 votes of the available votes. That blew away both Tyler Lockett of Seattle and Tyreek Hill of Kansas City, both of whom received five votes.
No other members of the Vikings made the First-Team or Second-Team as an All-Pro this season, though some of them still received votes. Xavier Rhodes got five votes as a cornerback and two under the “defensive back” category. Danielle Hunter picked up two votes as an edge rusher, while Everson Griffen got one. Harrison Smith also received three votes at the safety position.
The First and Second-Team All-Pros are broken down at NFL.com. If you want to see the full All-Pro voting, you can find the results at this link.
Congratulations to Cordarrelle Patterson on being named a First-Team All-Pro for the 2016 NFL season!