Why Bernard Berrian Will Love Brett Favre Greg Dietz, Fantasy Football Guest Writer Jul 3, 2009 | More

In 2008, Bernard Berrian had a decent first year after signing his free agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings. He hauled in only 48 catches, but took them for a total of 964 yards and seven touchdowns (the latter two being career highs). Berrian definitely benefits from coaches stacking the box with defenders to help minimize the damage done by Adrian Peterson, but if a certain quarterback takes the reins, fantasy owners should expect big things from the 28-year-old wide receiver.

Berrian’s yards have increased steadily every year over his five seasons in the NFL. Those stats alone are appealing to a fantasy owner, but become a little surprising when reflecting on who was throwing him the ball. In 2006 and 2007 while Berrian was in his last two seasons with the Bears, Rex Grossman and Brian Griese were the primary gunslingers in Chicago. While Griese had his good years in Denver and Grossman showed promise once in a blue moon, they were never close to fulfilling Chicago’s desire of finding that franchise quarterback that they longed for so badly, nor did they provide ample support for the up-and-coming Berrian.

Berrian then jumped ship to another NFC North team when he signed with Minnesota, hoping he would benefit from the team’s offensive firepower which generated from the tandem of Peterson and Chester Taylor who were toting the rock up, over, and around defenses all over the league. One thing he didn’t have, though, was a steady ring leader as Tarvaris Jackson made a feeble attempt of backing up his coach’s expectations and Gus Frerotte tried desperately to show the world he could still play. Neither of these guys had what it took to lead their team to even one playoff win. And here is where Brett Favre steps in.

While Favre struggled at times in his days wearing Jets green, he also threw for just under 3,500 yards and 22 touchdown passes. Just about half of the yards and more than half of the touchdowns went to his number one and two receivers, Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery. Favre has always had good relationships with his two main targets whether it was Coles and Cotchery in New York or Greg Jennings and Donald Driver in Green Bay. This only leads to good things happening for Berrian as 2009 approaches.

The addition of Favre would make the Vikings an entirely different team offensively. In 2008, coaches were cautious with the explosive Peterson in the backfield and sometimes put as many as nine guys in the box to help curb his negative effects on a team’s defense. Part of this was due to Peterson’s abilities which made him arguably the best back in football. What people did not recognize as regularly was that part of it was because teams didn’t fear Jackson or Frerotte beating them with the air attack.

If Favre dons the purple No. 4 in 2009, opposing defenses won’t know what to do with themselves. They can drop back in coverage and get burned by the Vikings’ all-pro star or crash the trenches and risk the deep ball being thrown to Minnesota’s stellar receiving core which includes Berrian, Sidney Rice and rookie Percy Harvin. Coach Brad Childress kept teams on their toes in his years as offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, and that was when he had names like James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Greg Lewis gracing his roster.

Combining Berrian’s underrated skills with Favre’s unquestioned football and quarterback IQ will allow Minnesota to cook up something more on offense than just a slashing and dashing from the backfield. While the Vikings as a whole would benefit from a steady quarterback under center in 2009, Berrian would also be experiencing his first season with a proven team leader which will do volumes to unleash his full potential.

Berrian has been inching closer and closer to his first 1,000-yard season for years now, and if Favre is leading the team there’s a very good chance of reaching that milestone and becoming one of the Top 10 wide receivers in fantasy football. Grab him while it’s early.