Every year, ahead of the NFL Draft, there are prospects who make every team do a double-take. Maybe even in some cases, a triple-take. Prospects are breaking through new athletic and physical barriers every year, challenging our belief of what is truly possible, but the Denver Broncos immediately scheduled a visit with one prospect who posted mind-boggling athletic testing numbers.
Uar Bernard is a defensive line prospect from Nigeria, and he's drawing a lot of attention after a pre-draft workout in which he ran a 4.63-second 40-yard dash with a 39-inch vertical jump.
He posted those numbers at 6-foot-5, 306 pounds...
Denver Broncos getting a closer look at shocking NFL Draft prospect Uar Bernard
#Broncos are hosting Uar Bernard, defensive lineman from Nigeria who went viral this week, on a top-30 visit next week, his trainer Javon Gopie told @denverpost. He’ll visit with #Colts before that.
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) April 4, 2026
6-4 1/2, 306 pounds, body fat 6%, ran 40 in 4.63 seconds. 39-inch vert. Unreal. https://t.co/NZVG23BXlY
Bernard is just 21 years old, and because he's part of the International Pathway Program, he's a rare potential draft selection that won't even count against a team's 90-man roster.
Uar Bernard is a DT prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.90 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 23 out of 2270 DT from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/Wbla0CPmfl pic.twitter.com/cheOEDvGwQ
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 4, 2026
As you can see, his athletic and physical traits are the rarest of rare. He's in the 99th percentile of all defensive tackles evaluated over the last 35 years, and on top of his speed and explosiveness, he's got 11-inch hands and nearly 36-inch arms?
A 1.58-second 10-yard split is ridiculous for an interior defensive lineman. If the Broncos can get their hands on this player, he could really turn out to be something as he continues to grow in the craft of playing football.
And to be fair, there are many great athletes who put on a show in pre-draft showcases like this, but not all of them can actually play football. Bernard is going to require some seasoning and development, but those types of traits are worth betting on.
For as many international players don't have success in the NFL, there are players like Jordan Mailata, who has become one of the best left tackles in the game after transitioning from being a rugby player and starting from scratch with football. It's not impossible, and certainly when you have athletic traits like this, teams are going to believe that the best is on the table.
The Broncos have three picks in the 7th round of this year's draft. It's hard to think of a better use of one of those late picks than taking a chance on this guy. He's undoubtedly going to have a lot of suitors as an undrafted free agent, so it's likely that some team is going to have to take a shot on his talent with an actual draft pick.
The Broncos have the luxury of doing so with seven selections in total, and plenty of precedent of developing talent in the pass rush department.