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
Berrian then jumped ship to another NFC North team when he signed with
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
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
Combining Berrian’s underrated skills with Favre’s unquestioned football and quarterback IQ will allow
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.