A Wild Draft Prospect Is Suddenly on the Vikings’ Radar

This year’s draft features likely top pick Fernando Mendoza, star running back Jeremiyah Love, combine standouts and sure first-rounders Sonny Styles and Kenyon Sadiq, as well as countless other intriguing players. Perhaps the most fascinating one is someone who has yet to take his first steps on the gridiron.

Nigerian defensive tackle prospect Uar Bernard has become a sweet story in this year’s pre-draft process thanks to his otherworldly athleticism and an article of The Athletic written by Bruce Feldman.

Feldman introduced the draft hopeful: “Jordan Luallen trained some of the most freakish athletes at the 2026 NFL combine: A 245-pound edge rusher who vertical-jumped 41 inches, a jumbo wide receiver who ran a 4.3 40, and a 293-pound defensive tackle who ran 4.8. But Luallen told The Athletic he’s never seen an athlete like the one he’s been training for the past 10 weeks for this year’s NFL draft. Uar Bernard (pronounced “ooh-are”) measured in earlier this week at the NFL’s HBCU showcase at 6-4 1/2, 306 pounds with 11-inch hands and almost 36-inch arms.”

According to analyst Ryan Fowler, the Vikings are one of five teams to have shown interest in hosting Bernard for a visit.

Bernard is a project that will likely take years to provide a return on investment, if he ever can. Yet, teams often spend their later draft picks on players with potential rather than selecting pro-ready athletes and Bernard fits that mold, though perhaps a little more extreme than usual.

Feldman added, “Other people who have spent their lifetimes in football say Bernard looks like a Marvel creation. Bernard’s body fat: 6 percent. He vertical-jumped 39 inches and broad-jumped 10-10, which was 14 inches more than any other defensive tackle did at this year’s combine. His 40-yard dash: 4.63.”

That’s indeed a marvel-like arsenal of physical tools.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he’s the most athletic defensive tackle prospect in over two decades of data. They posted on social media, “We ran Nigerian IPP prospect Uar Bernard’s numbers through the NGS athleticism models (predictive & raw) trained against DTs since 2003. Here’s how he scored relative to the 2026 draft class:
Athleticism Score: 96 (1st)
Raw ATH Score: 10.0 (1st)”

A terrible three-cone time hurt his still-excellent relative athletic score, but it’s worth wondering whether he’s really unable to change direction or if he botched the test. Given his movement skills, the latter theory might be more than just a conspiracy theory.

The NFL has been trying to grow the game internationally and the number of foreign players in the NFL is slowly rising. Few have turned out to become star players or even starters. The most prominent one is Eagles All-Pro tackle Jordan Mailata, an Australian with zero football experience prior to the 2018 draft.

Feldman noted, “Bernard began the training program Jan. 18 in Florida with Luallen. He came in at 295 pounds with 11 percent body fat. He vertical-jumped 32 inches and broad-jumped 9-4. To see the improvement in the 10 weeks of training is unlike anything Luallen has experienced. ‘He was very naturally gifted when he walked in, but he made substantial improvement on everything. He’s super freakin’ flexible, and he is way more fluid now.’”

Bernard grew up in a small village in Nigeria and wanted to pursue a career in real estate. Most people from there are farmers, he said, according to Feldman.

His football journey started when he was playing basketball and a coach suggested he should pick up football. A few football camps later, he was chosen by the International Pathway Program.

That program is working with former players and coaches to teach the prospects the sport. YouTube has been another way for him to study defensive line play, especially Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, who have caught his attention.

Without any college experience, there’s a good chance Bernard lacks the fundamentals to thrive in the NFL, needing a lot of work. However, players with such athletic feats will always draw attention as long-term projects.

Vikings defensive line coach Marcus Dixon left this offseason for the Dallas Cowboys. Ryan Nielsen was hired in that role. Nielsen has been a defensive line coach for two decades and a guy with his experience appears to be primed for that assignment.

Based on potential alone, he’ll likely hear his name called late in the draft as a flier and the Vikings could be the ones pulling that trigger.

Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.

Janik Eckardt is a German sports nerd, who likes numbers and stats. He chose the Vikings to be his … More about Janik Eckardt