Baylor football: Top 3 Bears prospects for 2022 NFL Draft

1. Terrel Bernard, LB

In 2020, Terrel Bernard was the Bears’ leader in tackles, sacks, and tackles for loss through five games until a season-ending should injury sidelined him. The redshirt senior from LaPorte, Tex. was also leading the Big 12 in tackles per game (11.0) until the injury.

Bernard, who tied his career-best with 19 tackles against Texas (including nine solo stops), the most by any Baylor player in the past decade besides himself the year before. He’s played both middle and outside linebacker, and he has been an important linchpin in the Baylor defense during his three seasons in Waco.

Bernard had also led the Bears in tackles in 2019, making 112 stops for a team that came within an overtime of winning the Big 12 before falling in the Sugar Bowl to Georgia.

Bernard promises an NFL defensive coordinator a hard-hitting presence in the middle who can rush the passer, too. Look for Bernard to go in the second or third round of next year’s NFL Draft to a team looking for an instant impact player on defense.