![\"Viral](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TDP-L-SPFBNBRONCOS-0408-01_cdb4eb.jpg\")
Viral Nigerian prospect Uar Bernard, left, training along with other members of the NFL’s International Pathway Program circuit. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\nIn October, Uar Bernard arrived for an NFL Draft evaluation in London without shoes.<\/p>\n
Viral Nigerian prospect Uar Bernard, left, training along with other members of the NFL’s International Pathway Program circuit. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n
He had cleats, sure. But no kicks to train in. Normally, for a league generating more than $23 billion in revenue, this would be no issue; representatives for the NFL\u2019s International Pathway Program<\/a> had sent out for a pair of shoes for Bernard before the native Nigerian was set to work out. This, however, was a 21-year-old who wore size-18.5 sneakers.<\/p>\n A clerical issue ensued. No shoes were delivered. So Bernard, a 306-pound defensive-line prospect previously unearthed at a camp in Lagos, Nigeria, set for a vertical jump in nothing but socks.<\/p>\n He leaped 38 inches.<\/p>\n \u201cHe really is a super-freak,\u201d said Javon Gopie, a longtime pass-rush consultant who\u2019s worked with the IPP for four years. \u201cLike \u2014 our nutritionist said that he\u2019s had the highest testosterone levels that he\u2019s ever seen from a guy his age.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernard, who has never played a snap of football, was accepted as a member of this year\u2019s IPP class \u2014 which names a yearly crop of overseas prospects discovered at camps across the world \u2014 and went to train for three months in Florida. In January, upon his arrival, Bernard told Gopie: \u201cI\u2019m not going back to Nigeria.\u201d Months later, at the HCBU combine hosted last week at the Washington Commanders\u2019 facility, Bernard went super-viral for testing measurements never before recorded at his 306-pound weight<\/a>: a 10-foot-10-inch broad jump, a 39-inch vertical, and a 4.63-second 40-yard dash.<\/p>\n Cue the Denver Broncos, who sent a coach out to Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday to evaluate Bernard\u2019s agility in a private workout, Gopie said. Denver will host Bernard on a top-30 visit later this week, Gopie added, after he takes a visit with the Los Angeles Chargers.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019re confident,\u201d Gopie said of the Broncos, \u201cthat they can maximize who (Bernard) is as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n A defensive tackle with a tight end\u2019s straight-line-speed and Aaron Gordon\u2019s vertical leap<\/a>, naturally, would be appealing as a draft sleeper in any given cycle. But the Broncos\u2019 interest in Bernard is particularly notable given their positioning this April. After spending significant draft capital to trade for star receiver Jaylen Waddle in mid-March<\/a>, three of Denver\u2019s remaining seven picks are seventh-rounders. The organization currently holds the very last two picks of the draft \u2014 No. 256 and No. 257 \u2014 as compensatory selections, after losing running back Javonte Williams and punter Riley Dixon in 2025\u2019s free agency.<\/p>\n The Broncos have the chance, then, to make some very strange history. Since the modern, seven-round era of the NFL Draft began in 1994, according to data reviewed by The Denver Post, no NFL team has ever taken the two final picks of the draft back-to-back.<\/p>\n It\u2019s entirely possible, given general manager George Paton\u2019s love of trading back and head coach Sean Payton\u2019s love of trading up, that the Broncos move off one or both of those slots. But Denver also sees those seventh-rounders as valuable currency, given the ability to sit on under-the-radar prospects and then prevent them from hitting the undrafted-free-agent market if they go unselected.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great, it\u2019s great,\u201d Paton said last week in Arizona, at the NFL league meetings. \u201cYou may not be able to get a guy \u2026 in the free-agent world, it\u2019s crazy, the chaos. And so, if we\u2019re not going to get a guy (in the draft) \u2014 that happened with Jonathon Cooper, believe it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, back in 2021, the Broncos knew that Cooper had an agreement all but drawn up to head to Jacksonville if he went unselected, as Paton outlined. So Denver swooped, nabbed Cooper at pick No. 239 in the seventh round, and wound up with an edge star who produced 23.5 sacks over the life of his four-year rookie deal.<\/p>\n Under Paton, the Broncos have often preserved and deployed seventh-round picks with the same strategy. Denver pounced on guard Nick Garguilo (No. 256) in 2024 and tight end Caleb Lohner (No. 241) in 2025 to prevent them from hitting the post-draft open market, as both players had undrafted-free-agent deals lined up, sources told The Post. And as Denver searches for value with a duller draft outlook post-Waddle, team officials have done significant homework on a slew of prospects who could fall into their laps in the seventh round.<\/p>\n Denver, quietly, conducted a top-30 visit with Lohner before nabbing the converted basketball player in a bit of a draft stunner last season. With that in mind, here are a few sleeper names to keep an eye on who have set up top-30 visits with Denver:<\/p>\n TE Nate Boerkircher, Texas A&M<\/p>\n If Boerkircher falls to the seventh round, Denver could pounce. Boerkircher caught just 38 passes for 417 yards across five seasons between Nebraska and A&M while playing a heavy blocking role. He has untapped upside as a pass-catcher, though, measuring at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, and graded well as a run-blocker in 2025.<\/p>\n T Paul Rubelt, UCF<\/p>\n A massive 6-foot-10, 310-pound native of Frankfurt, Germany, Rubelt played six seasons at UCF and has started at both right tackle and left tackle across the last two seasons. The Broncos will have significant study on him, having identified running back RJ Harvey out of UCF in last year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n G Josh Gesky, Illinois<\/p>\n Gesky wasn\u2019t invited to this year\u2019s combine in Indianapolis, but had a standout pro day at Illinois in March, running a 4.94-second 40-yard dash. He played primarily left guard in college, and could be a developmental fit behind starter Ben Powers, who\u2019s approaching the last year of his deal.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget about Bernard, too, who\u2019s rippling across the radar of NFL teams. The Broncos are also hosting fellow IPP standout Josh Weru \u2014 a member of the Kenyan national rugby team \u2014 on a top-30 visit in conjunction with Bernard, Gopie said. Weru stands 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, jumped a 40-inch vertical, and has been training as an edge rusher by watching tape of the Broncos\u2019 Nik Bonitto, Gopie said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe fits their body size, body mold, and he fits that type of scheme \u2026 I think he\u2019d be a no-brainer fit,\u201d said Gopie, wwho has trained Bonitto since the All-Pro edge rusher played at Oklahoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Broncos have hunted upside in building their offensive and defensive lines through the draft in recent years, between undrafted offensive linemen like Alex Palczewski and Frank Crum and mid-to-late-round defensive linemen like Cooper and Que Robinson.<\/p>\n Bernard, for one, could reasonably be next.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially with the development that they\u2019ve done over the last four, five years with guys in their front seven \u2026 I think like, most coaches, you\u2019d salivate to see a guy like that and want to develop him,\u201d Gopie said.<\/p>\n![\"Nigerian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TDP-L-SPFBNBRONCOS-0408-01.jpg\")
Nigerian prospect Uar Bernard (right), a member of the NFL’s International Pathway Program class of 2026, stands with trainer Javon Gopie (left). (Courtesy photo)
\nFinding potential in the late rounds<\/p>\n