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Positives: Has a developing frame with good bone structure, adequate muscle definition, thick calves and thighs, V-shaped upper body and muscular biceps … Has shorter than ideal arm length, but displays large hands to lock on and control (just needs to develop better hand usage) … Lacks explosion off the line of scrimmage, but has shown good agility to pull and trap in the short area … Has good knee bend and body torque angling to locate second-level defenders … Smart player with the vision to quickly pick up stunts and knows enough about everybody's responsibilities to call blocking assignments up front … Lacks aggression and has failed to dominate at this low level, but does work to finish … Has good balance and pulling speed and is quick to recover and bounce up when knocked down … Has some quick twitch in him on drive blocks, showing the light feet and body movement to react well to movement … Lacks the thud to jolt defenders with his hands, but shows good body lean to occupy the defender … Needs to cover more ground in his pass movements when playing tackle, but stays on his feet with better agility when setting up in pass protection at guard … Has started developing a better feel for using his momentum to wash out the defender when attempting to position and sustain … Does not fire off the line, but has the feet to get in front on the short sweeps, showing good lower body flexibility when shuffling his feet to push the pile … Does a good job of getting on the linebackers when pulling, but is more comfortable as a position-and-turn type … Will look defenders up working downfield, but does struggle vs. quicker opponents, especially when playing on the edge … Needs to be more physical using his hands when he's engaged, but when he sinks his pads and anchors, he can get through trash and stalemate the bull rusher … Will sometimes get his weight too much forward, causing him to lunge and over-extend, but has the balance to recover … More of a grabber than puncher at this time, but has the weight room figures to indicate that strength won't be an issue (just needs to learn hand technique) … Has just adequate change of direction agility, but has decent body control in his kick slide (still not as smooth as his athletic ability would suggest when crossing over at the X's).
Negatives: Gets a marginal drive off the line of scrimmage and needs to do a better job of using and placing his hands in pass protection (short-arms quite a bit, which lets slippery defenders bounce off his reach blocks) … Showed improvement with his aggression as a senior, but at his level of play, he should have played with a nastier streak and dominated the action better … Good on short pulls and traps, but when he narrows his base, he struggles to adjust moving to the second level … Must generate a stronger punch and keep his hands more active to fend off the defender, as he absorbs too many hits on the top part of the body, despite his good reach (must keep his hands inside the frame better) … Fails to generate much pop or explosion with his hand punch … Best playing inside, as he struggled with speed moves on the edge because he struggled to position and adjust in space … Gets put back on his heels vs. a strong bull rush, as he lacks the upper body strength to adjust once engaged … Still a work in progress with his lateral slide, but he has shown better ability for taking proper angles … His adequate footwork is exposed when he has to handle the quicker three-tech types … Will need time to develop proper hand technique and will need at least a year in the training room to improve his overall bulk, strength and flexibility … Made good progress with his rehab, but is coming off a left knee injury that sidelined him for his last four games.
Compares To: BRIAN WATERS-Kansas City … Like Waters, a team will need to patiently develop Bernadeau, who is coming from a small college program and has never faced top-level competition. As a tackle, he would have big problems even getting into a training camp, mostly due to marginal strength and a lack of aggression in his pass set. He needs to start taking on a mauler's mentality, but he at least showed better aggression as a trap blocking guard than he did as a finesse-type tackle. Late in the draft, a team can find a very capable player who just needs someone to teach him the proper way to play the game.
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