MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -For four years, the Minnesota Vikings have searched for a receiver to be that go-to guy they’ve been missing since the one-of-a-kind Randy Moss roamed their field.
Finding a true replacement for a talented player like Moss is unrealistic, but the Vikings have so far been unsuccessful even developing a receiver fast enough, reliable enough and feared enough to earn that distinction as the quarterback’s top target.
Thus their passing game, and as a result overall offensive production, has lagged since the days where the long ball was a big part of Minnesota’s identity.
Bernard Berrian is the Vikings’ boldest attempt yet at reversing that post-Moss trend.
Signed to a six-year contract worth up to $42 million with $16 million guaranteed, Berrian gave a glimpse of his bravado – par for the course at his position in the NFL – at a news conference at the team’s practice facility hours after his deal was done in March.
Asked what viewers would see in him if they turned on his highlight tape, Berrian replied, “The nastiest player ever.”
Laughter came from the assembled reporters, but Berrian stayed stone-faced.
“I’m serious,” he said.
After starring at Fresno State, Berrian grew into a productive player in four years with Chicago. He totaled 142 catches, 1,726 yards and 11 touchdowns over the last two seasons, and suddenly he was one of the top free agents on the market. The match between him and the Vikings was obvious.
“He’s going to be able to stretch the field,” said Sidney Rice, another of Minnesota’s top receivers who showed flashes of promise as a rookie last season. “Hopefully it’s going to take a lot of pressure off me and Bobby Wade and the rest of the receivers.”
This team has had exactly two 100-yard receivers in a game since Moss was traded, one in 2005 (Koren Robinson) and one in 2006 (Troy Williamson). Even with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson still in the raw stage of his career, the Vikings would surely be disappointed if Berrian doesn’t put his name on that list a handful of times in 2008.
“He makes a difference, no doubt,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said this week. “One, with his speed. Two, with his experience. He’s had a couple of dropped balls. We don’t want to look over those, and we’re going to continue to improve that. But it is nice to see us completing balls behind the defense. The deep balls, it’s nice to see that. The receiving corps as a whole begins to gain confidence. Tarvaris begins to gain confidence in them. That breeds a pretty good thing for us.”
Indeed, the deep pass will be of paramount importance to Minnesota’s success this year.
Adrian Peterson will always be the fulcrum of the offense, but after his NFL-record, 296-yard performance against San Diego last Nov. 4 – and subsequent knee injury – opposing defenses stacked the line of scrimmage even more and limited his impact down the stretch. Jackson will to need to be able to complete his share of passes of 30 yards or more to Berrian, Rice and the rest to keep the other teams from too easily forcing punts and turnovers.
“You like to be able to get chunks when you can get chunks,” coach Brad Childress said. “It’s very hard to sustain those 14-play drives. … Explosives end up being huge when you can find one you can hit.”
Berrian was one of several players held out of team drills during Friday’s practice, as the usual first-week bumps and bruises popped up. Berrian has a minor groin injury, but he said he believed he would be back to full speed on Saturday.
“It’s just part of camp. That’s all,” he said, adding: “I hate standing on the sidelines. It’s the worst thing ever.”
Standing still is not a family trait. The son of former U.S. Air Force mechanics, Berrian has a brother, Chris, who competed in the U.S. Olympic track trials in the 200-meter sprint. His other brother, Tony, was an All-American runner at Arizona State who specialized in the 400.
“I’ve been blessed with speed. That’s obvious,” Berrian said, “but I see myself as a complete receiver.”
The Vikings realize the importance of that. They selected the fast-as-ever Troy Williamson in the first round of the 2005 draft, but he never figured out how to hang onto the ball and was traded to Jacksonville in February for a sixth-round pick. Berrian will need to continue his career progression and prove he’s more than just a burner to give owner Zygi Wilf his money’s worth.
So far, so good. But it’s only practice.
“There are a lot of things he’s better at than what I thought,” Bevell said.
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