nfl draft 2022 NFL Draft: Day 3

[Alaska Darin]

1 minute ago, Core Four said:

 

I'll use Luke Kuechly as a comparison because, why not, he was pretty good.

 

Kuechly: 6'3" 238 lbs

Bernard: 6'1" 224 lbs

Luke was a good MLB because he was athletic, had great instincts, and worked very hard to improve.  By all accounts, Bernard is athletic, has good instincts, and worked hard to improve his game at Baylor.  There is certainly parallels between the two.

McD mentioned at one point that Kuechly was not the Kuechly he coached in 2015 (SB year), compared to when he was a rookie. 

I'm sure Bernard has a ways to go to get to his ceiling.

 

Bernards' knocks are he gets locked on to the ball carrier and can get caught in traffic (blocks) that he isn't comfortable in and not strong enough to get out of.  Bernard is not the strongest tackler and has trouble bringing down RBs at the point of contact.  He also can get caught flat footed in coverage, though this one could be a little nit-picky as there are other players this can be said.

 

Edmunds has poor instincts, not great in coverage, can't shed blocks, but is a good tackler.  He has all the physical characteristics to be a MLB, just not the processing power between the ears and lacking in athleticism.  While not a total whiff, he is far from a home run where he was drafted in the 2nd round after moving up to do so.

 

Can Bernard become a MLB?  It's possible, but it's going to depend on how well the coaches can develop him.  They really didn't do a great job on Edmunds, but maybe that's just Edmunds where his intangibles were not enough even with his physical attributes.  Bernard seems to have the instincts and athleticism to become a staple in the LB corps, but I'm still hesitant to say he'll be a MLB.  He will need to add some strength and muscle mass, which is not difficult for these guys to do.  As I've mentioned earlier, Bernard seems to be a project who probably won't be an impact player for a good part of this season.  I think he will end up replacing Milano in two years.

 

 

Couple things to nit-pick here:

 

1.  Edmunds was the 16th overall pick in the first round.

2.  Edmunds is an "off the charts" athlete, which is why he got drafted where he did.  The book on him coming out of college is he relied on his high level athletic ability to overcome his lack of football instincts.  He's still that guy, unfortunately.

 

I can't argue with the rest of it.  I think Bernard is another Milano, who is a very good LBer as long as the guys up front do their jobs.  He's also another of those "Positionless guys" the BILLS love so much, which will make him an effective blitzer from various spots - something he excelled at in college. 

 

Fortunately the Pegulas have spared no expense on strength/recovery equipment and staff because that's exactly what guys like Bernard will benefit most from.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

7 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

Couple things to nit-pick here:

 

1.  Edmunds was the 16th overall pick in the first round.

2.  Edmunds is an "off the charts" athlete, which is why he got drafted where he did.  The book on him coming out of college is he relied on his high level athletic ability to overcome his lack of football instincts.  He's still that guy, unfortunately.

 

 

It just occurred to me that maybe that's why Edmunds is so effective at covering the middle of the field, as people say he is.

 

If he has no idea what he's going to do, how do opposing QBs?

[Core Four]

25 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

Couple things to nit-pick here:

 

1.  Edmunds was the 16th overall pick in the first round.

2.  Edmunds is an "off the charts" athlete, which is why he got drafted where he did.  The book on him coming out of college is he relied on his high level athletic ability to overcome his lack of football instincts.  He's still that guy, unfortunately.

 

Point 1.  You are right, I stand corrected.  That makes the Edmunds draft a little worse.

Point 2.  I was thinking athleticism as far as being able to come up with big plays such as INTs and FFs, which he doesn't do either well.  As far as things like sideline to sideline speed and pursuit, he does that well.  I see your point, there.

[Arm of Harm]

8 hours ago, Core Four said:

 

I'll use Luke Kuechly as a comparison because, why not, he was pretty good.

 

Kuechly: 6'3" 238 lbs

Bernard: 6'1" 224 lbs

Luke was a good MLB because he was athletic, had great instincts, and worked very hard to improve.  By all accounts, Bernard is athletic, has good instincts, and worked hard to improve his game at Baylor.  There is certainly parallels between the two.

McD mentioned at one point that Kuechly was not the Kuechly he coached in 2015 (SB year), compared to when he was a rookie. 

I'm sure Bernard has a ways to go to get to his ceiling.

 

Bernards' knocks are he gets locked on to the ball carrier and can get caught in traffic (blocks) that he isn't comfortable in and not strong enough to get out of.  Bernard is not the strongest tackler and has trouble bringing down RBs at the point of contact.  He also can get caught flat footed in coverage, though this one could be a little nit-picky as there are other players this can be said.

 

Edmunds has poor instincts, not great in coverage, can't shed blocks, but is a good tackler.  He has all the physical characteristics to be a MLB, just not the processing power between the ears and lacking in athleticism.  While not a total whiff, he is far from a home run where he was drafted in the 2nd round after moving up to do so.

 

Can Bernard become a MLB?  It's possible, but it's going to depend on how well the coaches can develop him.  They really didn't do a great job on Edmunds, but maybe that's just Edmunds where his intangibles were not enough even with his physical attributes.  Bernard seems to have the instincts and athleticism to become a staple in the LB corps, but I'm still hesitant to say he'll be a MLB.  He will need to add some strength and muscle mass, which is not difficult for these guys to do.  As I've mentioned earlier, Bernard seems to be a project who probably won't be an impact player for a good part of this season.  I think he will end up replacing Milano in two years.

 

 

 

Good post overall. I’d also like to nitpick the part about Edmunds’ athleticism, because his outstanding athletic ability is why he was a first round pick. If you were to put Chris Spielman’s brain into Edmunds’ body, you’d have a heck of a football player!

 

Moving on from Milano in two years isn’t something I’d want to see the Bills do. You don’t build a successful football team by releasing your successful draft picks. While Edmunds is not a bust, he hasn’t had Milano’s success. To your point, I hope Bernard is able to improve his tackling so that he’ll be the replacement for Edmunds we all want him to be. 

[Core Four]

1 hour ago, Arm of Harm said:

 

Good post overall. I’d also like to nitpick the part about Edmunds’ athleticism, because his outstanding athletic ability is why he was a first round pick. If you were to put Chris Spielman’s brain into Edmunds’ body, you’d have a heck of a football player!

 

Moving on from Milano in two years isn’t something I’d want to see the Bills do. You don’t build a successful football team by releasing your successful draft picks. While Edmunds is not a bust, he hasn’t had Milano’s success. To your point, I hope Bernard is able to improve his tackling so that he’ll be the replacement for Edmunds we all want him to be. 

 

IMO, the biggest problem with Milano is availability.  He usually misses time every year, in 3 of his 5 seasons he's missed multiple weeks.  Edmunds has been a lot more durable, which is good or bad depending on if you're an Edmunds fan or not.

 

Edmunds is athletic as far as his ability to run sideline to sideline, pursue, and tackle.  He is not athletic as far as having the body control to shed blocks, make interceptions, and forced fumbles which are all another form of athleticism.

[Foxx]

54 picks still unsigned.

 

[Nanker]

5 minutes ago, Foxx said:

54 picks still unsigned.

 

There’s always one in a crowd 

 

Friggin Texans. Watch their GM Nick Caserio get GM of the year. What a piece of work. 

[Alaska Darin]

2 hours ago, Nanker said:

There’s always one in a crowd 

 

Friggin Texans. Watch their GM Nick Caserio get GM of the year. What a piece of work. 

He got 3 firsts for Watson and you know he knew more than anyone else about what was going on. 

 

God, the Browns are so stupid.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

2 hours ago, Alaska Darin said:

He got 3 firsts for Watson and you know he knew more than anyone else about what was going on. 

 

God, the Browns are so stupid.

 

Watching the Browns' front office reminds me being in junior high, and watching the kid nobody likes and everybody picks on try to fit in with everyone else, and getting abused mercilessly. 

[B-Man]

15 hours ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

Watching the Browns' front office reminds me being in junior high, and watching the kid nobody likes and everybody picks on try to fit in with everyone else, and getting abused mercilessly. 

 

 

Funny thing is, I used to like the Browns.

 

Of course that was back when Frank Ryan was throwing the ball to Gary Collins and handing it off to Leroy Kelly.

(1967)

[Alaska Darin]

2 hours ago, B-Man said:

 

 

Funny thing is, I used to like the Browns.

 

Of course that was back when Frank Ryan was throwing the ball to Gary Collins and handing it off to Leroy Kelly.

(1967)

They were an easy team to root for in the "Cardiac Kids" days as well.  Sipe, Newsome, Matthews, etc.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

2 hours ago, Alaska Darin said:

They were an easy team to root for in the "Cardiac Kids" days as well.  Sipe, Newsome, Matthews, etc.

 

Although I'm not a chick who decides who to root for based on who has the prettier wardrobe, I could still never root for the Browns, because the unis always looked too me like someone put a pumpkin on a big pile of shit.

[Alaska Darin]

1 hour ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

Although I'm not a chick who decides who to root for based on who has the prettier wardrobe, I could still never root for the Browns, because the unis always looked too me like someone put a pumpkin on a big pile of shit.

Which they somehow managed to make worse every time they tried to modernize it.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

5 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

Which they somehow managed to make worse every time they tried to modernize it.

 

Their wardrobe management is a reflection of the team.

[Alaska Darin]

27 minutes ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

Their wardrobe management is a reflection of the team.

Shoulda hired the group that did the BILLS' redesign during the Donahoe era and done EXACTLY the opposite of whatever they recommended.