In the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills drafted linebacker Terrel Bernard. Where does he fit on the roster for this upcoming season?
The second pick of Day 2 for the Buffalo Bills saw them take Baylor linebacker Terrel Bernard in the third round. He is a smaller linebacker but makes up for that with great speed and quickness.
This is exactly what the Buffalo Bills look for at the linebacker position as they want players that can move sideline to sideline and close quickly on the ball carrier. Bernard certainly can do that but the question now is where does he fit on this roster and what might he be able to do as a rookie.
Predicting the Buffalo Bills’ depth chart at linebacker with Terrel Bernard
Starters: Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano
Backups: Tyrel Dodson, Terrel Bernard, Tyler Matakevich (special teams), Andre Smith, Joe Giles-Harris, Marquel Lee
After the selection, Terrel Bernard met with the media and said that he did play middle linebacker when he was younger but shifted to weakside linebacker recently. He believes this is the position he will play with the Buffalo Bills.
Terrel Bernard says he played MLB when he was younger, but most recently has shifted towards the WLB, where he feels he will be playing with the #Bills.
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) April 30, 2022
This makes sense as he has a similar playing style to Matt Milano, who is the team’s starting weakside linebacker. Both are smaller linebackers but are quick and do a good job in pass coverage against tight ends and running backs.
While he will likely be the primary backup to Milano, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Buffalo use Bernard in sub-packages or certain situations. The Bills have typically played in a nickel formation but with the coverage ability of Milano and Bernard, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them use more 4-3 defenses, particularly against teams that use more two-tight end sets.