You can say what you want about the Minnesota Vikings football season, but when it comes to returning kicks few do it better than Cordarrelle Patterson and Marcus Sherels.
The duo was honored by the Pro Football Writers of America Monday.
Patterson was named All-NFL as the kick returner and Sherels was named All-NFC as a punt returner. They were the only Vikings honored by the organization.
Patterson was just one of 11 players to be named All-NFL in both 2015 and 2016. He led the league by averaging 31.7 yards per return this year and returned one kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown.
For his career, Patterson has led the league in kickoff returns during three of his four NFL seasons. He’s returned a team-record five kickoffs for touchdowns during that span.
Marcus Sherels was named All-NFC as a punt returner by the @PFWAwriters. pic.twitter.com/DS58U8RYcE
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 16, 2017
Sherels battled injuries during much of the season but still made a dramatic impact on the Vikings special teams.
He returned 21 punts for 292 yards – averaging nearly 14 yards per return. Sherels also ran two punts back for touchdowns and has five punt return touchdowns in his career.
Sherels nearly led the league in punt return average, but lost it when Tyreek Hill returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in Week 17 – costing Sherels $100,000.
It was that same return that likely cost Sherels All-NFL honors. Hill was the only punt returner named All-NFL.
