Berrian Opens the Box
Opinion by Dave Stefano
VikingsValhalla.com

Bernard Berrian joins a youthful receiving corps and quarterback with nothing but improvement ahead.

We have read and heard over the few days that Bernard Berrian has the same case of the dropsies as did Troy Williamson, especially from those Bears fans that are disgruntled by the Vikings signing him.  As fans, I know we all were frustrated by Troy’s drops, especially when the game was on the line as is the case in Denver and he was wide open.  (I can feel my heartburn churning up just over the thought.)

I think the in today’s free agent market, that the Vikings did their research on Berrian.  He was consistently ranked as the second best available free agent next to only Randy Moss.  The Vikes wooed him with the use of Wilf’s private jet getting him, then to wine and dine him while he was here.

“I think that he can stretch the field and that people have to honor his ability to get up the field and make plays up the field. With that said, he has the ability to work all those short and intermediate zones as well,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said.

“I think the key part that we’re missing is the receiver to take the pressure off that running game. If you get both of those parts added in there, it’s hard to tell which one you are going to choose. Pick your poison,” said Berrian when he was introduced.

He saw that this was the place he wanted to be and wants to contribute to opening up the box so our two headed runningback attack, and if opponents still stack the box, he will run free and make them pay.   Unlike T-Will running free, we as fans can expect BB to catch the ball.

Why?  Let me show you…

TW vs BB in the dropped passes department; I just buzzed over to Stats Inc to look for myself. Here is what I found:

Troy Williamson 2007
Target 76, Dropped 11, Percentage caught 48.7

Bernard Berrian 2007

Target 102, Dropped 3, Percentage caught 50.0

Stas Inc defines a Dropped Pass as:

Any incomplete pass which was catchable with normal effort. STATS compares and reviews the judgment of multiple reporters to determine if a pass was dropped.

The low percentage caught points to the quarterbacks inability to put the ball on target, but when you figure out of the ones that are catchable the drop percentage of Troy's is glaring compared to that of Bernard's.  

Other prominent receivers -
Randy Moss 97/8/43.3
Terrell Owens 152/14/55.9
Marvin Harrison 148/6/64.2

 So if you look at drops as a percentage of targeted attempts, Berrian is definitely an improvement.  He will not likely be able to erase Cris Carter's highlight reel catches from our minds or Moss’ jump catches in triple coverage, but he should contribute to a division winning playoff making effort .  Vikings fans have been blessed by two of the greatest receivers that have ever played the game in Cris Carter and Randy Moss, but unfortunately every receiver that follows gets stacked against their abilities.  If Berrian can make the likes of Grossman, Griese, and Orton look halfway decent, Tarvaris Jackson will look even better.

 A hearty “Skol Bror!” welcome to Bernard Berrian and may Odin bless your warrior efforts.