Archer, Thomas add draft value as return men

When Cordarrelle Patterson declared for the NFL draft last year after playing one season at Tennessee, there were questions about whether he was too raw for the pros.

The Vikings selected him with the No. 29 overall pick, anyway, figuring Patterson at least could make an immediate impact as a returner after he set records for the Volunteers. And that’s how it turned out for Patterson, who had two touchdowns among his 43 kick returns as a rookie and eight other returns of 40 yards or more.

Patterson’s career path is one to emulate for a handful of players in this year’s draft, including Kent State’s Dri Archer and Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas. Both are middling prospects as offensive players, but can boost their stocks because of exceptional return ability.

The only catch is that Patterson has good size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) while Archer (5-8, 173) and Thomas (5-9, 194) are among the smallest position players in the draft. That means they may not be well-suited for returning kickoffs in the NFL.

“Patterson, that’s where he made his mark, where he did his best work,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said. “Some of these other guys you just want to protect a little bit, but they all have that ability.”

Perhaps a better model for Archer and Thomas is Devin Hester, who is 5-11, 190. Hester, who signed with the Falcons in March, has been no more than a No. 3 wide receiver over eight NFL seasons, but he’s carved a niche as returner while setting an NFL record with 18 combined kickoffs and punts returned for touchdowns.

Hester has outstanding speed, but Archer may be able to match him. Before his timing day at the NFL combine in February, Archer said he was gunning for the fastest official 40-yard dash time of 4.24, posted by Chris Johnson in 1999.

“I’m going to break the record,” Archer said.

Archer nearly did it with an official time of 4.26 seconds. That speed allowed Archer to make an impact as a rusher, receiver and returner at Kent State.

Opponents tried to keep the ball from Archer on kickoff returns, so he had only two attempts in 2013. He returned one of them 100 yards for a touchdown against Northern Illinois.

“Guys like me with a lot of speed are going to cause a lot of problems in the league,” Archer said.

To make it in the NFL, Archer has to be more than a return man, and he had some production from scrimmage for the Golden Flashes. He was voted first-team all-conference at running back as a junior and third-team all-league as a wide receiver last season.