Sierra Foothills

Dane Brugler in his draft compendium "The Beast" had Terrell Bernard as his 12th ranked LB and gave him a 4th round grade. The Bills made him the 7th LB drafted. This is what Brugler had to say about him: BACKGROUND: Terrel (tuh-RELL) Bernard, who is one of six children, was raised in La Porte (a bay town southeast of Houston) by his mother (Laura). He started playing sports at age 6 but chose to focus on football when he attended La Porte High and made varsity as a freshman. Playing both inside and outside linebacker, Bernard earned First Team All-District honors as a sophomore with 114 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and two interceptions. As a junior, he again earned All-District honors with 148 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks and two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown). Bernard led La Porte to a 9-3 record as a senior and had his best season with 201 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. He was named Second Team All-State and District MVP in 2016 and saw time on offense as a running back all four seasons, finishing his prep career with 10 rushing touchdowns. A three-star recruit out of high school, Bernard was the No. 66 outside linebacker in the 2017 recruiting class and the No. 141 recruit in the state of Texas. He started receiving scholarship offers as a sophomore and finished with offers from Power 5 programs like Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Northwestern and Texas Tech. Bernard committed to Houston the summer before his senior year, but when Matt Rhule was hired as Baylor’s head coach in December 2016, Rhule was able to flip him to Baylor shortly before signing day. Bernard graduated with his degree in health, kinesiology and leisure studies (August 2020) and recently received his master’s degree in sports management (December 2021). Bernard accepted his invitation to the 2022 Senior Bowl. STRENGTHS: Plays with plus speed and range ... moves well laterally to track the football up-and-down the line of scrimmage ... trusts his eyes and diagnoses quickly vs. the run to fill (Rhule: “He’s just a great football mind.”) ... resets his vision well to adjust his movement patterns on the fly ... has the foot quickness to give blockers the slip ... alert and active in zone coverage with smooth coverage transitions ... flow-fast blitzer who finished his career No. 3 in school history in sacks (16.5) ... adequate length and tackling strength with room to add bulk ... wants to be a strength coach after his playing days and invests in his conditioning ... disciplined by nature and was a senior captain (head coach Dave Aranda: “When I think of the heart, soul, and character of our team, I think of him.”) ... productive with a pair of 100-tackle seasons on his résumé. WEAKNESSES: Lacks ideal size by NFL standards ... adequate vision, but his anticipation is lacking ... tends to see the ball through a straw and must do a better job locating impending blockers ... doesn’t have explosive hands when attacking blocks ... overaggressive downhill and can get sucked up too far or out-leveraged on the edge ... reactive in coverage and can be caught flat-footed in man-to-man ... battled through several injuries in college: suffered a season-ending fractured shoulder [209] and torn labrum that required surgery (November 2020); broke his right hand that required surgery (November 2019), but didn’t miss any time; missed one game as a senior because of a knee scope (September 2021); redshirted in 2017 after breaking his foot ... didn’t play on kickoff coverage in college. SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Baylor, Bernard was the weakside linebacker in head coach Dave Aranda’s 3-3-5 base scheme and played mostly to the field side. He consistently filled up the stat sheet with 8.4 tackles per game over the past three seasons, and both of his head coaches in Waco (Rhule and Aranda) were eager to praise his leadership and integrity. Bernard is always involved in plays because of his play speed and inside-out range, showing the ability to unlock and accelerate in any direction. He tends to be too reactive at times and doesn’t have the play strength or heavy hands to quickly dispose of blockers at the point of attack. Overall, Bernard is undersized and doesn’t have the anticipation of a playmaker, but he has disciplined eyes and athletic range to cover space, projecting as a fourth linebacker and potential down-the-road NFL starter. GRADE: 4th Round As a few other posters here have astutely pointed out, the Bills play a Base 4-2-5. Numerous people are harping on Bernard being undersized however if he comes in the game for Taron Johnson and the Bills mix in more 4-3 looks, the defense becomes BIGGER.

Okay... we should have waited till the 6th round to draft him? Feel free to provide a link to that. Thanks. Is that a Japanese unit of measure? Both. "Chess piece" works well too.

Right? Football players... Typical Yeah BMI is something that was used in the 1960s when I was a kid. It's simplistic to the point of irrelevance. Not only does it not take into account muscle versus fat, but it also ignores bone diameter and density as well as lung capacity.

That raises a good question Butch Byrd-Booker Edgerson Robert James-Tony Greene (before he switched to safety) Mario Clark-Charles Romes Antoine Winfield-Nate Clements Seems like I'm missing one more pair. This. Any team that's willing to trade down is obviously going to shop that pick to as many teams as possible to maximize their compensation. It's more likely than not that there was at least one other team interested in pick 23.

People here are treating point #4 like it's quantum physics. It's really disturbing. The team that let Elam's Dad use Jerry Jones' private jet? I'm not a highlight guy... here's the game between Alabama and Florida last season... Elam (#5) versus Jameson Williams (#1) and John Metchie (#8).

5) Pedigree (Dad and Uncle) 6) Youth (20 years old) 7) Fills a major roster hole If you account for the Bills' habit of drafting elite physical traits and high RASs in the 1st round (Josh, Tremaine, Rousseau), you would doubt the Bills had McDuffie ranked ahead of Elam. Booth? The guy who wasn't drafted in the 1st round? I've seen this posted numerous times in this topic. I like Zierlein a lot but he's not infallible. Like all these guys he's wrong a fair amount. It's amazing how many people here are struggling with this rather simple concept. It's not like we're talking about the shape of the universe here. Because he was confident he'd be drafted in the 1st round so it made zero sense to stay another year and risk a catastrophic injury. 5'10" 185 pound Leodis McKelvin? Elam reminds me more of Patrick Peterson than Leodis McKelvin.

The premise of the article is... flawed. Free agency started on March 16th. Why is she taking into account mock drafts which took place before that... in some cases 10 weeks before free agency even started?

It's not really a horrendous draft. There are fewer than usual 1st round caliber players but the draft overall is considered quite deep. I don't see a scenario where the Giants draft a QB. We'll see soon enough.

Happy Birthday Fergy! You're a good man and a good QB. Chuck Knox was a very underrated coach and team architect. He was a three-time NFL Coach of the Year. He took over a bad Rams team and led them to 5 straight division titles. He took over a bad Buffalo team and led them to consecutive playoff births. He then took over a bad Seattle team and led them to consecutive playoff births in his first two seasons. He had 186 wins, a .558 winning percentage and 11 playoff appearances. The Bills were a clown show before he arrived and reverted back to being a clown show immediately after he left. Thanks Ralph. I hope the $100K savings was worth it.

No, I didn't realize we were very very thin. I thought we were just thin. This is disconcerting.

You sure are vacillating qu well. Once actual debate about Hall is if he has good speed or not. Some say he's slower than he times. Others say he's as fast as he times. He sure had a lot of long touchdowns. It all depends on who's there. We can draft any position in any round. I didn't realize we were that thin.

I think it has to be character concerns. Yeah really. Is the Gator Standard actually written somewhere or is just a feeling? It's weird that he would skip the first two voluntary workouts of his career. There's a lot of things I would like. Wasn't there a legal entanglement or am I confused? It's funny. Everyone and their mother is expecting a sweetheart deal from Schoen. I wonder if Giants fans are expecting the same thing?

Thanks for the tell. It's always good for everyone to look in the mirror and be honest with themselves. Welcome to the community.

True. But you should still be trying to predict what will happen. I agree. I think if this organization has one tendency (without evidence) I would say that they value traits. That's a got ya moment. All of us are now scurrying to watch video of Isaiah Weston. At least I am. Honestly I was a huge Carl Pickens fan so it's hard for me to be objective because of that and also I'm behind on my "research." From everything I hear should be happy of we get Pickens at 57. I have to watch the video.

The reason to sign a low-priced veteran is that you have one more layer of safety net.

The margin for error isn't comfortable as I would like but I have faith as most of us do. The counter to the roller derby argument is the steel sharpens steel argument. I have faith in this organization. I'm optimistic for the future. Super-psyched for Thursday. Iron Maiden, you crack me up. Not even the least bit oblique. 😅

A few excerpts from the Buffalo News article on David Quessenberry: A 6-foot-5, 310-pounder, Quessenberry started all 17 games in the regular season last year for the Titans, in addition to the team's playoff game against Cincinnati. In 2020, he appeared in 12 games for Tennessee, starting six times. Quessenberry, 31, has traveled a remarkable road to arrive in Buffalo. Originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2013, he played in two games as a rookie before his career was put on pause. In June 2014, Quessenberry was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Amazingly, he beat the odds and made an emotional return to the field in December 2017. Quessenberry comes from a football family. His dad, David Sr., played for the Naval Academy, as did his brother, Paul. Additionally, his youngest brother, Scott, is currently an offensive lineman for the Texans. Quessenberry figures to compete for the swing tackle job as the primary backup to starters Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown. He has experience playing on both sides of the line, as his six starts in 2020 came at left tackle after Taylor Lewan was injured for the Titans. Analytics website Pro Football Focus had a favorable review of Quessenberry’s play in 2021. He ranked tied for 14th out of 57 tackles who played at least 633 offensive snaps, with a grade of 80.6 (out of 100), according to PFF. For comparison, Dawkins was the Bills’ highest-rated tackle, and he ranked tied for 17th. Quessenberry excelled as a run blocker, with an overall grade of 89.1 that ranked fourth in the league. However, his pass blocking left plenty to be desired, according to PFF. His 61.6 grade in that category ranked 42nd. Quessenberry was also charged by PFF with allowing 11 sacks, which led the league.

A few nuggets from the Buffalo News article on Lamonica's passing: Lamonica was a fan favorite in Buffalo, even though he started only four games in his four Bills’ seasons, winning all of them. However, he had a knack for bailing the team out. In 1964, Lamonica rallied the Bills to win in Weeks 4, 7, 8 and 9, and the Bills were 9-0. “I talked to Ralph Wilson the night before,” Lamonica told The Buffalo News in 2020. “And he told me, ‘You’re going to come back and be our starting quarterback.’ And eight hours later I was traded. I was absolutely devastated.” The day of the trade, then Buffalo Evening News sports editor Charley Young wrote: "One nagging question remains, however. Whoever has wound up winning in any deal with Al Davis, the Mr. Smart of the American League operators?" In a little over six seasons as the Oakland QB, he compiled a regular-season record of 66-16-6, the best winning percentage of any starting QB in the Super Bowl era with at least 75 starts. Lamonica led the Raiders to a 13-1 record in ’67 and the won the AFL Player of the Year Award. Oakland lost Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers. Lamonica helped the Raiders to the AFL championship game in 1968 and 1969 and the AFC championship game in 1970. Lamonica led pro football with 145 touchdown passes from ’67 through ’72 – 24 more than the next best quarterback, Fran Tarkenton. He still holds the Raiders record with 34 touchdown passes in a single season (1969). The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Lamonica had some huge playoff performances. He threw five TD passes in a 41-6 win over Kansas City in 1968 and a record six the following season against Houston. Only Steve Young and Tom Brady have matched Lamonica's six TD passes in a playoff game, and only Patrick Mahomes and Kurt Warner have multiple games with at least five. Lamonica also played a starring role in one of the AFL’s most famous games in 1968. He threw four TD passes, including the go-ahead score to Charlie Smith, in a 43-32 win over the Jets in what is known as the "Heidi Game" because NBC cut away from the finish on the East Coast before the Raiders comeback to show the children's movie. “When I heard the nickname The Mad Bomber, I didn’t like it much,” Lamonica told The News. “I thought, ‘What a dumb name; it sounds like I don’t know where I’m throwing the ball.’ The next week, I get under center and I make eye contact with the cornerback – and he backs up three steps. And I thought, ‘Well, OK, I like that.’ ” In his first game back in Buffalo against the Bills, the 1968 season-opener, Lamonica led the Raiders to a 48-6 victory. The Bills fired head coach Joel Collier after the game.

So Gunner, you're one of those who has Kyler Gordon ahead of Trent McDuffie. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Thanks again.

Happy Birthday New Era! Wishing you what we're all wishing for... Cheers!

On another point I know there are those who'd like to see the Bills trade up in the 1st round but I'm in the boat where they should use those resources to move up in the 2nd round or even get another 2nd or 3rd round pick. I think there'll be a lot of good value in those rounds.

First and foremost, thank you very much for this. It's very impressive and I have to say I agree with most of your work. I'll comment more as I digest it. Good point. Defining linebacker positions in this day and age is pretty confounding For instance one emerging distinction is off-ball versus on-ball linebacker. Then as we all know the Bills play a 4-2-5 as their base defense so it's not as simple as using sam, mike, will, or other conventional tags.

Just FYI, The Bleacher Report piece quotes Joe B's piece in The Athletic: "If the Bills believe the Poyer situation is going awry, I could see them making a big move up the board and into the top 10—or just outside of it to secure (Kyle) Hamilton's services. The spot I keep coming back to at the top of this range is the Giants at No. 7. It would get the Bills ahead of the Falcons (No. 8), Jets (No. 10) and Commanders (No. 11), all of whom could select Hamilton because of a need at the position and his rare qualities."

BTW, I hope you had a Happy Dingus Day. May your sex tapes always be released via the highest porn industry protocols.

Agreed. As I said earlier, it's not a big deal so I'm not expecting action by the league or the club. When I say it's "disturbing and disappointing" I mean that it's not just a big ha ha and an opportunity to make bad jokes and laugh it off. The exact reason we all love Josh Allen is because at 25 years old, he would never do anything like Von Miller did at the age of 33. I thought Von Miller was a mature person of high character... thus my disappointment.