Fantasy Football Crystal Ball: Bernard Berrian

Minnesota Vikings wideout Bernard Berrian is no stranger to the big play. Last season, his yards-per-catch average of 20.1 was second in the NFL. But that was last year with Gus Frerotte, who, despite his faults, has always had a good arm. This season, he’ll be catching the ball from either a quarterback named after a plant, or a quarterback who is less consistent than Jamie Lee Curtis when she forgets to eat her Activia yogurt.

For Berrian and his potential fantasy football owners, whoever wins the quarterback job could have a rather large impact on Berrian’s value. During the 2008 regular season, Tarvaris Jackson was under center for six contests. In those games, Berrian caught just 13 passes for 207 yards (15.9 average) and two touchdowns. With Frerotte at the controls, Berrian caught 35 passes for 757 yards (21.6 average) and five touchdowns. You see the dilemma.

Rosenfels, on the other hand, has been successful throwing deep, though to be fair, he did have Andre Johnson at his disposal. Nonetheless, he was still 15th in the AFC with eight “big plays” (passes of 25+ yards) last season, despite playing in just six games. On the other hand, Jackson was 20th in the NFC with just five pass plays of 25+ yards. This was the same amount of big plays as St. Louis’ Trent Green, despite the fact Green played in only three games, and it was four fewer than Detroit’s Daunte Culpepper.

What this potentially says about Berrian is his value is as-yet undetermined. If your draft comes towards the end of training camp, try and get a pulse on if Rosenfels or Jackson has the upper hand. If it seems like Jackson will get the call during Week One, it may be wise to downgrade Berrian just a few spots on the wide receiver list. However, if it looks like Rosenfels will be the man, Berrian should stay right where he is.

*THIS ARTICLE WRITTEN BY BRUNO BOY KYLE SMITH. FOR MORE FANTASY FOOTBALL INSIGHT AND ADVICE, CLICK THE LINK BELOW*

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