Terrel
Bernard.
Terrel
Bernard.
Baylor· 6'1"· 224 lb
Bernard is a downhill, diagnose-and-go linebacker who plays the run from the second level with anticipation rather than mass. He reads the guard, triggers before the back's foot hits the ground and arrives in the gap on time, which is how an undersized player led Baylor in tackles twice and posted a 19-tackle game at TCU.
The secondary trait is blitzing. Dave Aranda used him as a pressure player from depth and off the edge, and he finished third in Baylor history with 16.5 career sacks. He is fluid in space and comfortable carrying backs and tight ends in man coverage. What he is not is a stack-and-shed linebacker: at 224 pounds he gets moved by linemen who reach him clean, so the value lives in beating blocks, not absorbing them.
A nickel-base, single-gap defense that plays two off-ball linebackers behind an attacking front and asks them to run, cover and blitz rather than take on blocks.
Year 1: third linebacker and core special-teams player who handles sub-package snaps and situational pressure. Ceiling: full-time starting Mike in a nickel defense who calls the front, posts 120-plus tackles and adds five sacks off the blitz.
A two-gap base defense that lines its linebackers up over guards and asks them to stack blockers and hold the point — the frame makes that a losing assignment on every early down.
He must be protected by a front that keeps linemen off him. Clean up the interior and his instincts play up; leave him uncovered and the size flag becomes the tape.
Baylor Bears: Terrel Bernard
College highlight reel of the downhill trigger, blitz production and sideline-to-sideline range that defined his Baylor career.
2021 Baylor Defense vs Ole Miss O — Sugar Bowl (Coaches Film)
All-22 of the Sugar Bowl, the 20-tackle, two-sack MVP performance that closed his college career.
Terrel Bernard Highlights | Welcome to the Buffalo Bills
Draft-day package assembled by Buffalo, framing the traits the Bills bought at pick 89.
Bernard is an instinctive, undersized off-ball linebacker whose game is built on processing speed. He reads run keys as fast as anyone in the class and plays with the confidence of a four-year starter, moving through traffic to the ball instead of waiting on it. Matt Rhule called him a great football mind, and that is the whole scouting report in five words.
The production is heavy and it repeats. As a redshirt sophomore in 2019 he led the Bears with 112 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and an interception and made second-team All-Big 12. A shoulder injury ended his 2020 season after five games, but he was on a 55-tackle pace through them. He came back in 2021 for first-team All-Big 12 with 103 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, captained the defense and was named Sugar Bowl MVP with 20 tackles and two sacks against Ole Miss. He tested well at 224 pounds — 4.25 shuttle, 7.03 three-cone, 35.5-inch vertical.
The board discounted him for size and durability, with a September 2021 knee issue on top of the 2020 shoulder, and most projections had him in the fourth-to-sixth-round range. Buffalo took him at 89 as a coverage-and-blitz linebacker for a nickel-heavy defense, betting the instincts would outrun the frame.
- 01
Run diagnosis
Reads guards and reacts before the handoff, arriving in the correct gap on time, the trait behind two 100-tackle seasons and a 19-tackle game at TCU.
- 02
Blitz value
Effective pressure player from depth and off the edge, finishing third in Baylor history with 16.5 career sacks, including 7.5 as a senior.
- 03
Coverage movement
Fluid in space with the change of direction to carry backs and tight ends, backed by a 4.25 shuttle and 7.03 three-cone.
- 04
Leadership
A team captain whose Sugar Bowl MVP performance, 20 tackles and two sacks against Ole Miss, came in the biggest game of his career.
- 05
Range
Chases sideline to sideline and finishes plays outside the tackle box, which keeps him on the field in spread and empty formations.
- 01
Play strength
At 224 pounds he gets displaced when an offensive lineman reaches him clean and cannot anchor against down blocks on inside runs.
- 02
Durability
A shoulder injury ended his 2020 season after five games and a September 2021 knee issue followed, a two-year pattern teams flagged.
- 03
Take-on technique
Relies on avoiding blocks rather than stacking and shedding, so his production can evaporate against gap schemes that reach him.
- 04
Tackling in traffic
The frame shows up on contact with bigger backs, where he can be run through instead of dropping the ball carrier on first contact.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 35.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 123inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.03sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.25sp50
- Bench
- 22repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Baylor | 11 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Baylor | 16 | 112 | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Baylor | 5 | 55 | 3.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021 | Baylor | 13 | 103 | 7.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Career | — | 45 | 317 | 16.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2020 and 2021 read directly from cfbstats (2020: 5 games, 55 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 2 PD, 1 INT; 2021: 13 games, 103 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 7.5 sacks, 4 PD). cfbstats does not publish 2018 or 2019 pages for him, so those lines come from Baylor releases and the pre-draft summaries; tackles for loss are not itemized for either year and are left null rather than zero. The four seasons sum to 317 tackles in 45 games and 16.5 sacks, which matches the career sack total Baylor credits him with, third in program history. Buffalo's team release lists 320 career tackles and 12 sacks; we kept the figures that reconcile season by season. He redshirted in 2017, so there is no 2017 line.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
A high-volume tackler whose instincts earn him a starting job but whose frame keeps him from being a scheme-proof answer.
The ceiling is an undersized processor who becomes the defensive signal caller and an every-down coverage linebacker.
A light, injury-slowed linebacker who ends up as a special-teams contributor and a fourth linebacker on the depth chart.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Terrel Bernard has played two seasons for the Buffalo Bills, emerging as a starting middle linebacker in his second season. He has become a key defensive player for the Bills.
Buffalo got exactly what it drafted, one year later than expected. Bernard was a special-teams backup as a rookie in 2022, playing 16 games with 22 tackles and one start. He took over as the starting inside linebacker in 2023 and delivered the best season of his career — 143 tackles, 6.5 sacks, three interceptions and five passes defensed across 17 starts. He missed time in 2024 with 104 tackles and two interceptions in 13 games, was named a team captain, and in March 2025 signed a four-year, $42.1 million extension that put him among the ten highest-paid linebackers in the league. He played 12 games in 2025 and opened 2026 as the starter with a 12-tackle Week 1.
In hindsight the board's discount was the mistake. The size flag was real — he is still not a stack-and-shed linebacker and the availability question has lingered, with three of five seasons cut short — but the instincts and blitz value translated immediately once he got the job. A third-round pick who becomes a multi-year captain, a 140-tackle starter and a top-ten paid player at his position is a clean hit, and the value relative to pick 89 is among the better ones in this round.
Data note: Imported from Wikipedia 2022 NFL draft player selections table.