Overlooked linebacker named Bills’ ‘non-QB MVP’ heading into 2024 NFL season

Anyone with a pulse and a cursory knowledge of professional football knows who the Buffalo Bills’ undisputed MVP is heading into the 2024 NFL season.

He’s their quarterback. Their franchise player. Their regional icon. He’s Josh Allen.

The signal-caller has become one of Western New York’s most beloved and celebrated sports figures since being selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, a unique quarterback who has lifted the Bills from the depths of NFL irrelevance to perpetual contention. He’s found success on both a team and personal level, leading Buffalo to five straight playoff appearances (and four straight AFC East titles) while establishing himself as one of the league’s most dynamic players.

Related: Smart move? Banking on seemingly low TD pass numbers for Bills QB Josh Allen

This is simply recycling widely known and accepted information. (Most) people who watch football understand that Allen is pretty good and that the Bills will fluctuate based on his production. When discussing a team’s “most valuable players,” it’s much more useful (and entertaining) to omit the quarterback position, because most NFL teams will only go as far as their quarterback takes them.

That’s exactly what The Athletic did in a recent article identifying a “non-quarterback MVP” for each team’s club entering the 2024 season. The outlet circled an inspired pick for Buffalo, with on-the-ground reporter Tim Graham naming nationally underrated linebacker Terrel Bernard as Buffalo’s most important non-signal caller.

“Oh, who on the 2023 roster could replace Tremaine Edmunds?” Graham wrote. “Just 19 when the Bills drafted him 16th overall in 2018, Edmunds wore the green dot that day, starting all 82 games and eventually becoming a captain before joining the Chicago Bears as a free agent.

“Then came Bernard, who not only filled the void, but filled it with breakout plays. After starting once as a rookie, his sophomore campaign led the Bills with 143 tackles, along with three interceptions, three fumble recoveries, 6 ½ sacks and 10 tackles for loss. But his value was most apparent in his absence. An ankle injury kept him from dressing for the narrow playoff loss to Kansas City. Had Bernard been on the field in place of A.J. Klein, Buffalo likely would have won.”

Graham has laid the groundwork well: This time last year, Buffalo’s faithful were asking questions What The Bills were doing well at middle linebacker. With five-year starter and two-year Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds gone, Buffalo planned to run a three-man competition of A.J. Klein, Tyrel Dodson and Terrel Bernard throughout the summer to fill the glaring hole in the middle of its defense.

Related: How Bills Can Replace WR Stefon Diggs ‘Across the Board’

The team planned to replace a pillar with a veteran, a career special teams player or a recent third-round draft pick.

A year later, that concern seems a bit ridiculous. Bernard ultimately won the competition and thrived in the role, with Graham listing his stats in a way that effectively illustrated his impact. He was arguably more remarkable in the role than Edmunds, making several impact plays throughout the season. His penchant for being in the right place at the right time and his “football nose” were similar to that of fellow Buffalo linebacker Matt Milano, with his range and coverage ability essentially allowing the Bills to deploy two Milanos at once (until the All-Pro broke his tibia in Week 5).

Bernard didn’t receive any national accolades for his breakout season in 2023, which has angered fans of the team ever since. That said, he’s a vital piece of Buffalo’s defense, and as Graham suggests, the unit will be counting on his continued excellence in 2024. Buffalo’s new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich is confident in his ability to maintain his superb play; in a recent appearance on the site Buffalo Centered In his podcast, he said the linebacker “just got it.”

— Get free Bills coverage from Buffalo Bills on SI —