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Berger is tied for the best PFF grade at center with Travis Frederick, a player almost universally acknowledged to be the league’s best at the position. While most could tell you about Frederick, Berger has nowhere near the same kind of name recognition or hype surrounding his play, but he has been every bit as fantastic this year, and has done so with a supporting cast that pales in comparison to the Cowboys’ offensive line.

Berger has allowed just one sack all season, and 12 total pressures, despite playing in an offense that leads the league in seven-step drops—all while pass-blocking for a quarterback that has the ball in his hands, on average, longer than all but one other (Tyrod Taylor, if you’re curious). Few interior players have as tough of a time schematically as Berger does, and yet he has performed well as a pass blocker, and even better in the run game.

While Adrian Peterson averages just 2.7 yards per carry (45 rushes for 123 yards) when running between the guards and tackles, he averages 4.8 when running on either side of Berger this season, better than his overall average on the year.

dead_poet wrote:Man...Sullivan's injury continues to be a killer. If Sully was at center and Berger at one of the guard positions... *sigh*

NFL’S MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER: VIKINGS C JOE BERGER

Mothman wrote:
It's funny, I knew where the article would be from when i read the line above, even before I looked at the link. They love Berger. They've been gushing about him all season.

He has been one of the Vikes best o-linemen this year, maybe the best. I've seen him make some excellent blocks for Peterson.

mondry wrote:That's awesome, and maybe more important than we realize if Sullivan's injury is something he can't fully recover from.

dead_poet wrote: That's a scary thing to consider. Berger is going to be 34 when the season opens next season. If Sullivan is "done", we need a long-term option on the roster sooner rather than later (I'm not considering Easton a realistic candidate for that starter spot). Berger's "reserve" role may have given him a bit more tread on his tires but I don't know how comfortable I'd be with him starting the next few years. Plus that would mean we would need yet another lineman (instead of putting him at LG next season). Sigh...

One thing is for certain, it's pretty clear Rick "hit" on getting Berger here in 2011. Also a pretty important free agent signing now, all things considered. Can you imagine how our line would look if we didn't have Berger at center?

*shudders*

mondry wrote: We all kind of joked but it seriously wouldn't be a bad plan to pick up at least 2 new lineman in the first couple rounds of the draft. At this point getting more consistent pass protection is an absolute must. I'm normally a HUGE BPA kind of guy but I think O-line even trumps that concept right now, at least if they can't bring in a solid free agent before the draft.

PurpleMustReign wrote:Would our long snapper be able to play center?

Mothman wrote: Maybe in a pinch if they line was decimated during a game but McDermott is built like a TE (he's 6'5" and 240-250 lbs) so I don't think he'd be an option beyond that kind of situation.

It's a good question though and I've always wondered why more centers can't or don't learn to double as long snappers. If the starting or backup center could handle that job it would open up a roster spot for another position. I don't know much about long-snapping. Is it that different from what a center does?

akvikingsfan wrote:I would think it had to do more with coverage after the snap. A long snapper does typically have that TE type of build which makes them better built to run down the field and cover a punt. Granted, rarely do we see a long snapper making a tackle on a punt return, but it was the logic that my high school and college coach used when explaining why we had the long snappers that we had.