Meet the Dallas Cowboys Undrafted Free Agents of 2020

Francis Bernard

Linebacker – Utah

Francis Bernard – I liked Bernard coming out of college (in the late rounds), and I am slight surprised he wasn’t drafted in the sixth or seventh. I have him as an inside linebacker with some, but not much, flexibility. You want Bernard coming downhill to hit ball carriers. He needs a defensive line to keep him clean, but you want Bernard in your run defense.

As a former running back himself, Bernard sees the ball carrier really well. He tends to read the play quickly and see where the play is heading and gets there quickly. He is also solid in zone coverage and has the hands to make some interceptions. I wouldn’t want him in man-to-man situations, but put him in zone and he can handle himself.

Bernard will need to do better at shedding blocks if he doesn’t get to a spot first. He had some issues at BYU, but seems to have none since 2017. He sometimes over-commits on plays and doesn’t have the biggest tackling radius. He is great in short-space but is not the guy who will make plays in space.

On the Dallas Cowboys Bernard fits as a depth player possibly on the practice squad. The top-5 LBs are fairly established and working behind them at a pair of very promising options (more on that this summer). But you can never have too many LBs around given the abuse of the position and Bernard is a good tough player to have standing by.