Germie Bernard could be first WR drafted in 2026, per ESPN expert
By Mark Kern
Published:
Germie Bernard is off to a tremendous start for Alabama, emerging as terrific No. 2 option with Ryan Williams. In three games, Bernard has 15 catches for 275 yards and three touchdowns.
His play has started to stand out for NFL Draft analysts across the country, and ESPN’s Matt Miller thinks that Bernard is in play to be the top wide receiver drafted in 2026 along with Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson.
Here’s an excerpt of Miller’s analysis:
However … the WR1 race is very wide open, and Alabama’s Germie Bernard is emerging in the mix. He has been the best thing about Alabama football so far this season. Scouts had him with a fringe Round 1-2 grade over the summer. But to me, he’s right in the WR1 convo with Tyson and has a game very similar to Emeka Egbuka as a college receiver. At 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, he is already a high-end route runner with good physicality and strength. Bernard had two scores in Saturday’s blowout win over Wisconsin — one on the ground and another through the air.
Bernard started his career at Michigan State in 2022, but transferred to play with Kalen DeBoer at Washington in 2023. In his first two seasons in college football, he had only 41 catches for 647 yards and four touchdowns.
However, last year he started to show the potential to play on Sundays, as he had 50 catches for 794 yards and two touchdowns. He already has more touchdowns this season than he did last year, with plenty of games left on the schedule.
While Alabama is off this weekend, the Crimson Tide have a huge game in two weeks against Georgia in a rematch from last year’s thrilling 41-34 win over the Bulldogs.
