MERGE WITH OTHER THREAD

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Inexcusable STs obsession 

[LeGOATski]

He's meant to be Milano's eventual  replacement

[GunnerBill]

I didn't like the pick at any point. He wasn't a player I had watched or evaluated pre-draft tbh he wasn't even a player on my radar. 

 

My theory on the thinking when I watched some of his film after the draft was they believed he could be a sideline to sideline linebacker in the NFL and in a team like Buffalo or Philadelphia for example that basically only ever have 2 linebackers on the field that is a valuable asset. 

 

However, he has looked desperately disappointing every time he has taken the field. Slow and out of position whenever he is asked to go laterally and more like a younger AJ Klein who you can only use in straight lines attacking the line of scrimmage. 

 

Really odd use of a 3rd rounder. I never write picks off after 1 year but not sure I see the route to this pick working out.

30 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

He's meant to be Milano's eventual  replacement

 

See that is what I thought based on Baylor film. He has not looked like that could evet be possible based on his play so far for the Bills (regular and pre-season).

[Thurman#1]

I know this is crazy, but ...

 

Do you think it's possible they thought they could develop him, use him as a backup who would play in case of injury and eventually, depending on how things went with the starters, possibly slide in as one?

 

Nuts, I know.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Thurman#1

[John from Riverside]

My thought is that they might have turned them into some kind of big nickel. I don’t know if that’s going to work out.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

I know this is crazy, but ...

 

Do you think it's possible they thought they could develop him, use him as a backup who would play in case of injury and eventually, depending on how things went with the starters, possibly slide in as one?

 

Nuts, I know.

 

If that was their thought process there remains a legitimate question about whether that should equate to 3rd round value.

 

I think they believed he was a good enough athlete sideline to sideline that he would allow them to move on from one of their linebackers after the season - either move on from Tremaine or sign Tremaine and move Matt on. As it happened they were the Bills two best players on defense this year and Bernard was not good when he got on the field in limited sample size. So that option is off the table.

[Ray Stonada]

Another miss on an undersized but intelligent defender. Other times, the team asks a player to get smaller—AJ and Boogie—that hasn’t worked so well either.

[CSBill]

With his size, is he a potential Safety?

[NastyNateSoldiers]

8 hours ago, Rigotz said:

Yes, I know he looked terrible this season in limited play.

3rd rounder in a potential Super Bowl year.

We needed OL and WR badly.

Why did we draft him?

 

The Bills play a base 4-2-5 defense… 4 down linemen, two linebackers, 5 DBs including a Nickel (Taron) who acts as a linebacker at times. Was Bernard intended as insurance against a Taron or Edmunds injury? Was he intended to be used as a core special teamer and traditional OLB in 4-3 looks?

 

I didn’t understand this pick at the time and still don’t … unless it was always the plan to groom him to replace Edmunds… which also seems odd in a SB year.

 

So… what do you think was the ideal outcome Beane had in mind?

 

Try to keep the snarky/defeatist answers to a minimum.

What makes it more odd is he’s Milano backup. Instead of taking the G Dylan Parham from Memphis which btw ending up starting for the Raiders and looking very good . Beane and McD have proven to be horrible in the draft especially in the first 3 rds if they don’t change some of the philosophies they will be fired within 2yrs. 

[Doc Brown]

7 hours ago, somnus00 said:

Not being snarky. This seems like hubris by Beane. I think he bought into this being a superbowl year so he drafted a potential backup for the oft injured Milano... with a 3rd round pick.

 

I still like Beane as the gm, and it's way too early to tell, but this seems like a big, puzzling mistake.

This in the short term and Milano's eventual replacement in the long term.  The cynic in me says that if they developed like they thought he would then they'd cut Milano after next year (saving about 8 million in cap space) and plug him in when Edmunds big extension money kicks in.  Special teams depth until then while he develops.  Hubris is a good word or a misjudgment of depth at OL and WR.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Doc Brown

[Turk71]

Never heard of him, is he any good?

[HappyDays]

I think we mismanaged all of our rookies this year. We drafted a press man CB and never played press man. We drafted a pass catching RB and never threw him the ball. We drafted a blitzing LB and never blitzed him. We drafted a slot WR and refused to give him playing time even after Crowder's injury, when defenses were practically begging us to throw the ball underneath. There was a major disconnect between our front office and coaching staff. Beane made picks for an aggressive defense and a rhythm offense, and then the respective coaches of those units did the exact opposite.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by HappyDays

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

Another miss on an undersized but intelligent defender. Other times, the team asks a player to get smaller—AJ and Boogie—that hasn’t worked so well either.

 

There is something to this. Drafting Oliver, forcing Epenesa to lose weight, and now Bernard. They undervalue size on defense. You look at the Eagles front 7 and it is all massive human beings. I don't care how good your OL is, eventually they are going to get worn out having to try and move those guys over and over again. Especially late in the season when everyone is already worn out to begin with. No wonder every year our defense is getting beat up by physical teams in the playoffs.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by HappyDays

[Ethan in Cleveland]

He is under contract so he probably makes the team. Hopefully he replaces Matakevich on special teams and they save money by getting rid of an over priced special teams only player. Otherwise Bernard is useless. Stupid pick. Complete was of a day 2 pick that should have been o-line or WR.

[John from Riverside]

6 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Inexcusable STs obsession 

You don’t pick special teams players in the third round there had to of been a plan for him pass that whether he realizes it is another story

[CNYfan]

What a disappointment.  Healthy scratch for the Cincinnati game.  Not even special teams.  They saw him play and grabbed A. J. Klein back.  

He doesn't look fast and athletic on the field.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

5 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

I know this is crazy, but ...

 

Do you think it's possible they thought they could develop him, use him as a backup who would play in case of injury and eventually, depending on how things went with the starters, possibly slide in as one?

 

Nuts, I know.

Backup linebackers are street free agents. 3rd round picks need to play and become dependable starters. That pick should have been WR or OL. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

10 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

Way too early to tell if this was a bad pick or not.

No it's not. He's trash 

[MrEpsYtown]

Man when you look at some of the guys picked after him? Ugh wasted opportunity there and another wasted pick. 
 

I think it’s a combination of the coach connection and the need for depth at linebacker, I suppose a Milano backup. Baylon Spector looked better every time we saw him. 
 

So this, the punter, and Tenuta, 3 wasted draft picks. And that is why we are where we are. 

[finn]

9 hours ago, newcam2012 said:

If the Bills had Bernard as their BPA then they are seriously flawed and perhaps clueless. By most experts boards Bernard was projected to go somewhere in the 5th round. 

I remember so many pounding the table for Parham. 

Just for fun, we should establish which player this board wants in each round at the moment of the pick and post the results for all to see. I think we would have missed on Allen, but we might have hit on many others, including Parham over Bernard, Humphrey over Basham, and Metcalf over Ford. Of course, I would take Allen over all of these players combined.