Chicago Bears: 3 Ways Cordarelle Patterson must be used

The Chicago Bears signed Cordarelle Patterson to diversify their offense, so what are the ways that they should use their new piece.

The Chicago Bears traded away Jordan Howard last week to allow him to play in an offense that better suits his play style with the Philadelphia Eagles. It also opens up more playing time for a player they added earlier in free agency in running back/wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson. Patterson has a unique combination of size and speed that few other offensive players have in the modern NFL.

He had struggled to get proper utilization during the first few seasons of his career primarily with the Minnesota Vikings, but the New England Patriots showed last year what teams should be doing with him. You have to get him the ball in situations that are advantageous to him, and that’s what head coach Matt Nagy excels at.

During his time with the Kansas City Chiefs, they would experiment with running back Kareem Hunt to get him the ball, and it worked very well with the 1,782 yards that Hunt turned in as a rookie.

Nagy showed no real allegiance to any of his running backs last season, and, outside of sparkplug Tarik Cohen, the running back room is brand new with Mike Davis and Patterson. Patterson can play on the outside as a receiver, or he can line up in the backfield as a running back.

We’re here today to figure out exactly how Nagy should be using Patterson next season to maximize his potential, and we’ll take a look at three ways the new addition to the Bears offense needs to get the ball.