The Vikings look better for the 2008 season at WR because of the signing of speed burner Bernard Berrian. The signing of Berrian helps the Vikings’ offense and hurts the Bears as they lost the best receiver on their team. Berrian is on the small side at 6′1″, 185 but he more than makes up for that with his outstanding speed. Berrian played all in all 16 games for the Bears last season and he caught 71 passes for 951 yards (13.4 avg) with 5 TD grabs. Berrian is used to catching bad passes as he played with Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton so he should be used to what he’ll see from Vikings’ QBs this season. Berrian has now played in 58 games in his NFL career and he has caught 150 passes for 2,197 yards (14.6 avg) with 13 TD grabs. Berrian has also carried the football 12 times for 64 yards (5.3 ypc) in his career.
The Vikings expect Sidney Rice to take a step forward in his second season with them. Rice is a big guy at 6′4″, 202 pounds and he’s not scared to throw his body around. Rice played in 13 games as a rookie last season and he caught 31 passes for 396 yards (12.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs. Look for his numbers to improve if the Vikings get better QB play in 2008.
28-year old Robert Ferguson probably has a slight lead on Bobby Wade for the #3 job in 2008. Ferguson is 6′1″, 209 pounds and he’s not scared to go over the middle. He has had injury problems in the past because of his courage and the Vikings hope he can stay in one piece this season. Ferguson played in 15 games for the Vikings last season and he caught 32 passes for 391 yards (12.2 avg) with 1 TD grab. He could improve on those numbers this season as he is further removed from his severe neck injury of a couple of seasons ago. Ferguson has now played in 74 games in his NFL career and he has caught 148 passes for 1,968 yards (13.3 avg) with 13 TD grabs.
27-year old Bobby Wade was probably the best receiver on the Vikings last season so he could easily move right back up the depth chart. Wade played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he caught 54 passes for 647 yards (12.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs. Look for Wade to have another decent year for the Vikings in 2008. Wade has now played in 74 games in his NFL career and he has caught 155 passes for 1,846 yards (11.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs. He has also carried the football 19 times for 82 yards (4.3 ypc) in his career.
22-year old Aundrae Allison is very fast but he appears buried on the depth chart. He played in 11 games as a rookie last season for the Vikings and he caught 8 passes for 122 yards (15.3 avg). He also carried the ball 2 times for 3 yards (1.5 ypc) last season. Don’t look for big numbers from Allison unless some players ahead of him on the depth chart get injured.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C