When I think of athletic defensive tackles, the strength of Aaron Donald comes to mind. The speed of Jordan Davis. The size of Calais Campbell. Each has a characteristic that defines his game.
One prospect seems to combine them all. He’s “like watching (Victor Wembanyama),” one coach told my colleague Bruce Feldman. This guy’s trainer said he’s “hands down, the most explosive athlete I’ve ever seen in my life.” Do you recognize him, though?
This weekend, the football world was gushing over Uar Bernard (his first name is pronounced “ooh-are”). Feldman’s story on the unknown prospect went viral on socials, and rightfully so. These numbers are mind-boggling.
- Build: The 21-year-old stands 6-foot-4, 306 pounds with just 6 percent body fat. Imagine All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, but significantly leaner.
- Speed: Bernard jumped 39 inches vertically and 10 feet, 10 inches in the broad jump. Both would be combine records for a defensive tackle. His 40-yard dash time was 4.63. He would’ve blown away his fellow tackles in Indy.
Uar Bernard: No ordinary athlete
Compare the unbelievable numbers from Bernard’s pro day to those of Jordan Davis, the Eagles standout who had arguably the best defensive tackle combine performance of all time.
There’s just one catch. It’s the same reason he’s projected to be a late-round pick. It’s why you likely hadn’t heard his name until now.
Bernard’s never played a snap of football. Ever. He grew up in a small village in Nigeria, where most adults are farmers, and planned to work in real estate. But then a basketball coach suggested American football, enticing Bernard to join camps in Africa. He eventually reached the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, then delivered this workout at the HBCU prospects showcase in D.C.
So he’s expected to play defensive tackle. As Bruce writes in his story, we’re still a long way from that.
💬 “Bernard said playing in pads has been a big adjustment. He’s confident in his strength and his ability to be physical, but developing his technique and learning all that goes into D-line play is the biggest hurdle.”
The Eagles bet on the league’s international program in 2018 by drafting a seventh-round offensive tackle from Australia. He’s since become one of the league’s best. But don’t expect Bernard to become the next Jordan Mailata, who started in his first season.
As with the rest of Bernard’s journey to get this far, anything is possible, though. He sounds ready for whatever comes next. So far, our draft guru Dane Brugler has heard buzz from NFL teams about Bernard.
Also inside: League executives weigh in on the AFC, NFC and biggest offseason storylines, plus Dane Brugler joins for a quick draft Q&A.
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NFL execs on who’s rising and falling
Mike Sando’s conversations with league executives are hallmarks of our coverage at The Athletic, whether that involves ranking quarterbacks or candidly discussing NFL events.
Last week, Sando gave us glimpses inside the minds of the most powerful and influential people in the league, who anonymously shared unfiltered thoughts on free agency’s outcomes. Links below. Among other topics, Maxx Crosby came up repeatedly:
💬 “If you really wanted the guy, you would get him in there for his physical as soon as possible,” added another. “It was advantageous for the Ravens to slow-play the physical and keep open their options. That is why I believe the narrative.”
Here’s how other teams are trending, based on what Sando heard.
🤷 Cowboys. “One of those spin-your-wheels type teams that never really gets a lot better,” said one executive. I’m sure Cowboys fans agree; theirs is the only NFC team without a second-round playoff win this century.
📉 Falcons. “There is nothing about what they have done that I can say, ‘That makes sense,’” said an exec. Ouch. The feedback was consistent and expected, since Atlanta’s additions — players like Tua Tagovailoa, Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Hooper — are mostly roster fillers. Even their new jerseys are meh.
📈 Rams. “If you still think you are in the window and you have Matt Stafford coming back, you have to do everything you can to try to win it one more time.” That’s what they’ve done ahead of a season that will end with the Super Bowl in L.A. The Rams need Puka Nacua to sort things out if they want to both host and hoist, as in the trophy.
📉 Jaguars. Jacksonville has 11 draft picks. Impressive, considering the team traded its 2026 first to move up for Travis Hunter. But the dual-position threat played just seven games before a season-ending injury, and the rest of the Jags’ draft class was similarly underwhelming. Now they’ve lost their two best players, per one exec: Travis Etienne (Saints) and linebacker Devin Lloyd (Panthers). Oof.
📈 Vikings. I loved the following stat pull from Sando, since it illustrates something we often somehow forget about quarterbacks: They don’t play defense or special teams.
Among the 29 quarterbacks to start at least 25 games since 2023, Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray ranked nearly identical in EPA (which compares a player’s performance to the “average”). Yet Darnold has the league’s best record, 28-7, while Murray went 13-17. Biggest difference?
Defensive help was non-existent for Murray in Arizona. Now he suddenly has one of the league’s best defenses supporting him. Good news for everyone in Minnesota.
📈 Bears. Swapping D.J. Moore for a second-round pick was an obvious win, as were adding veteran center Garrett Bradbury and signing safety Coby Bryant away from Seattle.
📉 Steelers. “What is the plan? What is the vision?” asked one executive. It’s a familiar question in Pittsburgh, again in the dark while Aaron Rodgers decides, perhaps literally in the dark.
Sando covers all 32 teams in the full NFC story here and the AFC here. For more, Jourdan Rodrigue also shared what the league was talking about in Phoenix.
Surprise top-10 draft pick?
Later this week, Dane Brugler is publishing The Beast, annually the single best draft preview anywhere, but spared some time for us, answering two questions:
1. Who is your early guess on this year’s surprise top-10 pick?
💬 “Before the combine, my answer would have been Georgia LT Monroe Freeling, but after his testing in Indianapolis, I think more and more are already aware of his potential. I’ll go with Penn State guard Vega Ioane, who is arguably the best offensive lineman in the draft, and teams will be focusing more on players than positional value in this year’s top 10.”
2. How many quarterbacks are drafted in the first two rounds?
💬 “It would be surprising if there are more (or fewer) than two. Fernando Mendoza will be the No. 1 overall pick, and then we’re on Ty Simpson watch.”
As for us, we’re on The Beast watch. Another colleague, Nick Baumgardner, projected the first 100 picks, seeing the Jets draft Simpson to start the second round.
Extra Points
👀 Backup QBs are everywhere. Justin Fields in Kansas City, Gardner Minshew in Arizona and so much more. Saad Yousuf re-evaluates the most important backups in sports.
📓 A.J. Brown trade talk won’t go away. Zach Berman explains why it won’t end until after June 1.
🔐 Stephon Gilmore retired after 13 seasons. His impressive six-team career included a Super Bowl win and becoming the first true corner to win Defensive Player of the Year since Deion Sanders in 1994.
💼 Rashee Rice won’t face discipline from the NFL after the mother of his children filed a civil lawsuit in Texas. “There was insufficient evidence to support a finding that he violated the personal conduct policy,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.
🐻 Chicago denied comp picks. The Bears’ petition for compensatory draft picks was rejected by the NFL, which maintains that Matt Ryan is Atlanta’s “primary football executive” (despite mountains of evidence otherwise).
▶️ Last week’s most-clicked: The annual coaches photo, of course.
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