NFL Draft Profile: Terrel Bernard, Linebacker, Baylor Bears
#2
Pos: LB
Ht: 6004
Wt: 224
Hand: 0958
Arm: 3028
Wing: 7400
40: N/A
Bench: 22
3-Cone: 7.03
Shuttle: 4.25
Vert: 35.5
Broad: 1003
DOB: 5/7/_
Eligible: 2022
La Porte, TX
La Porte High School
Terrel Bernard
Baylor Bears
One-Liners
Terrel Bernard is an exceptional player with next-level instincts at linebacker. He can do it all from stopping the run to dropping coverage. His size and frame is most definitely a concern though so he will absolutely have to bulk up in order to have a substantial career in the NFL.
Pros:
Terrel Bernard is an athletic, attacking linebacker who makes flashy plays for the Baylor defense. Bernard often quarterbacks the defense, regularly communicating, pointing and sliding defenders into the right position for their assignment. Versus the run, he displays great gap integrity and plays with a good sense of urgency. Bernard is best in a one-gapping scheme where he is allowed to play fast and aggressive. Under these circumstances, his short area explosiveness and foot speed shine, while he also shows his best moments of physical toughness when engaging blocks. Bernard can shed tight ends’ blocks with ease when he engages first, gets low and extends his arms into his blocker’s chest. Furthermore, Bernard’s athleticism shines when defending the run from an off-ball chasing role - showing legit sideline to sideline speed and a good motor to chase down ball carriers all over the field. Versus the pass, Bernard makes his presence felt the most via blitzing from different alignments around the front seven - whether it is up the A gap, B gap or on the edge, Bernard displays good pre snap disguise, solid snap timing and a relentless motor to get after the quarterback. Furthermore, Bernard shows occasional flashes in zone coverage, particularly passing off short routes when in a hook zone responsibility. Bernard possesses solid movement skills to cover downfield and squeezes space between him and the receiver when he turns his back to the quarterback, roboting and using his eyes to find routes downfield.
Cons:
Bernard plays with a very aggressive mindset and bites on all sorts of play action fakes, which puts him out of position - this is exemplified by his struggle to get depth on his drops via a backpedal and leads to big gaps of space behind him and in front of the safeties. Furthermore, Bernard is also put out of position due to his adequate mental processing of motion and misdirection versus the quick passing game. Versus the run, Bernard is more reactive than instinctual, regularly being a step late when flowing towards the run and on a down to down basis, he struggles to defeat blocks from offensive linemen. Bernard has a skinny frame and a high center of gravity, leading to mediocre play strength at the point of attack where he gets engulfed by size. Lastly, Bernard has some ugly moments as an open field tackler since his average at best change of direction skills puts him in poor position to wrap up.
Summary:
Bernard is an athletic weakside linebacker who can chase down runs with his sideline to sideline speed and impressive motor. He makes plays as a blitzer and has enough flashes in zone coverage to be a potential three down linebacker. Bernard has just adequate instincts versus the run, adequate mental processing versus motion and misdirection and bites on play action too often, putting himself out of position. He can be a decent backup early on and progress into an average starter in the right scheme.
Background:
Born on May Seventh in La Porte, Texas to Laura Bernard, Terrel Bernard was a standout football player at La Porte High School. The talented athlete earned all-district honors three times during his high school career. In 2014 and 2015, Bernard was named first-team All-District 21-6A. In 2016, He also was named Class 6A All-State second team. In the same year, the Houston Chronicle listed him as first-team All-Greater Houston. Additionally, Bernard won District 22-6A defensive MVP. After his senior season, 247Sports Composite Rankings listed the La Porte linebacker as the 1012th-overall player in his class, the 66th-best outside linebacker in his year and the 141st-ranked recruit in the State of Texas. The same source labeled Bernard a three-star recruit. After a foot injury limited the Texas native’s debut campaign to two games and a redshirt, the linebacker played in 11 of 13 games (starting two) in his redshirt freshman year. Bernard was fairly productive in his limited time and earned a spot on the 2018 Big 12 All-Academic first team. In 2019, the La Porte product continued to break out. He played in all 14 games, starting three at weakside linebacker and eight at middle linebacker. The sophomore led the team with 112 tackles to go along with 4.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, one interception, five quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. His outstanding year saw him named to the Big 12 All-Academic first team and All-Big 12 Second Team (by coaches and AP). He made the Postseason All-Texas Team by DCTF. Heading into his junior campaign, Bernard was expected to have an incredible season. In fact, he was named to the Preseason All-American Fourth Team (Athlon), Preseason All-Big 12 First Team (Athlon, Street & Smith’s, Media, Lindy’s, Phil Steele) and Preseason All-Texas First Team (DCTF). What’s more, he was placed on the Bednarik Award Watch List, the Butkus Award Watch List, the Nagurski Award Watch List and the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. Indeed, Bernard had an incredible start to the season that saw him lead the Bears in tackles, sacks and tackles for loss through five games. He also led the Big 12 in tackles per game in that stretch. That said, Bernard suffered a torn labrum, fractured glenoid and HAGL lesion (all shoulder injuries) that would require surgery and prematurely end his season. Regardless, he was second in the Big 12 and 11th in the nation in total tackles, fourth in the Big 12 in sacks per game and tied for fourth in the Big 12 in tackles for loss per game. Bernard was once again named to the Big 12 All-Academic First Team and received Second Team All-Big 12 honors (AP and conference). The Baylor star was also a 2020 Pop Warner College Football Award Finalist.
Grades
Current Player Value/Potential Player Value
7.2 / 8.1
Floor/Ceiling: Backup / Average Starter
Scheme Fit: 4-3 WILL or 3-4 ILB in a one-gap attacking scheme
Grade: Late 3rd/Early 4th
Injury History: Foot injury in 2017 which led to a redshirt season. Shoulder injury in 2020 which was season ending. Undisclosed knee injury in 2021 which led to one game missed.
Character Notes: Bernard has often been praised by those around him for his leadership skills and in what could have been a lost 2020 season due to injury, Bernard was always there for his teammates. Fellow linebacker, Dillon Doyle, said of Bernard, “I think he really took that injury in stride and as negative as it was to have him off of the field, he really hunkered down and got in the film room and really mastered our playbook. Whenever I have a question, I go to him. He’s just an awesome teammate to have. And I think he really solidified his leadership. He already was a leader. But he is the guy that everybody looks to, to see what the standard is.” In fact, Bernard has gained the label of “Baylor’s Supreme Leader”, and head coach Dave Aranda has been quite vocal about what Bernard means to the team, “He’s got a great heart,” Aranda said. “His care for others, there’s a selflessness about him that our team sees and recognizes. And he pushes people to be better by the way that he goes about his day.” Lastly, it’s clear that Bernard is passionate about his studies, completing his undergraduate degree in August of 2020 and is currently working towards his masters degree in sports management.
2/3/22 - Baylor linebacker Terrel Bernard was asked which NFL teams he talked with and stood out to him at the Senior Bowl, “Yeah I think the Bears and the Cowboys are two teams I had pretty good interviews with. They liked my style of play and it was fun to be around them."
Bernard also detailed what part of his game he hangs his hat on, “I think my effort. You know I’m not overly a big linebacker, not super fast but I feel like I learn pretty well and play hard.”
Furthermore, Bernard is clearly a film study guy and detailed which NFL linebackers he watches and tries to learn from, “First was Lavonte David, Darius Leonard, Bobby Wagner and Fred Warner. I think all those guys are guys I look up to and try and take bits of pieces from their game and implement them into mine.”
Michigan State fullback Connor Heyward spoke about the increased value of his position, “Lot of teams are trying to get back to that fullback and have a fullback on the roster, or h-back, because you can do so much with them.”
Heyward also provided insights on learning from Lions coaching staff, “Duce Staley’s been working with the running backs, so just soaking up all his knowledge, he’s got a lot of wisdom. Everything he says, I’ve been writing down. And coach (Steve) Oliver as well, he’s our position coach this week. So just writing everything down and learning as much as possible.”
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