When the Minnesota Vikings acquired former Bears wide receiver Bernard Berrian, some thought it was a mistake, if only because the Vikings offered him a 6-year, $42 million deal. Berrian, as most Bears fans can attest to, is a highly talented athlete with inconsistent hands. There were times last season when Berrian would haul in a spectacular catch, but there were also moments when he left fans to scratch their heads (or pull out their hair in frustration).

But he’s in Minnesota now, where he’ll be catching passes from the young Tarvaris Jackson. Unfortunately, that little fact does little to upgrade his fantasy football status. Though the Bears have never excelled in the passing game, one can argue that Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton bring more to the table than Jackson. The latter, now in his third season, started 12 games last season, throwing for just under 2,000 yards and 9 touchdowns. Those numbers may rival someone like Vince Young (who threw more interceptions - 18-12), but they won’t make Vikings fans forget the days of Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss.

Having said that, Bernard Berrian is the best wide receiver the Vikings have had since Moss left the team after the 2003 season. And though the Vikings haven’t had a great passing game in that time, they have since excelled at running the football, peaking last season when Adrian “All Day” Peterson emerged as the NFL’s Rookie of the Year. His presence forces defenses to respect the run and crowd the box. This will open up the passing game for Jackson and Berrian, especially when considering the latter is a true deep threat.

Still, one wonders whether or not this team can produce a great fantasy football player who doesn’t start at running back. That question deepens when you consider that Jackson has just four 200-yard passing performances in his 16-game career and Berrian has never broken 1,000 receiving yards or caught more than 6 touchdowns in a single season. Consider: last season the Vikings had one wide receiver with more than 32 receptions (Bobby Wade - 54) and only two players on the roster had more than one touchdown reception (Sidney Rice - 4, Bobby Wade - 3). So despite all Berrian brings to the table for the Vikings, his role in the offense remains a minor one because Minnesota’s offense passes the ball so infrequently and so erratically. The most one can project for him is around 70 receptions, 950 yards, and 6 touchdowns. And that’s if he experiences an ideal season.

Quite simply, Berrian does not have the necessary supporting cast to escape being a WR3 in most fantasy leagues. I like Berrian and I think that Tarvaris Jackson could surprise some people this season. But the risk-reward ratio here is questionable at best.

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This post is tagged Bernard Berrian, Fantasy Football, Minnesota Vikings, Profile, Projections, Wide Receivers