Bills training camp questions: Will Terrel Bernard or Tyrel Dodson win the MLB job?

This is the eighth in a 10-part series previewing Buffalo Bills training camp.

For the past five seasons, in every game Tremaine Edmunds played, he was on the field for virtually every snap, patrolling the middle of the field with his tremendous length and athleticism.

As Sean McDermott often said, he was the quarterback of the defense and while not as vital as the quarterback of the offense, Edmunds was an important cog for Buffalo. Now, he will be plying his trade for the Chicago Bears and the Bills have a massive hole they need to fill with candidates who are a bit underwhelming.

Tyrel Dodson has been a backup for three years with five career starts; Terrel Bernard was a 2022 third-round pick who saw very little playing time as a rookie; A.J. Klein will be 32 next week and he’s better suited to being a backup. In all likelihood, one of those three will start on opening night in New York, and your guess is as good as mine.

“I look at it as we’ve got a lot of players that are vying for a position that for five years someone had occupied and took most of the reps,” linebackers coach Bobby Babich said. “So, there is a challenge, but I think ‘challenge’ versus ‘opportunity’ is the biggest thing. There’s a great opportunity for a lot of good football players to be able to step into that role.”

Ideally, you have to believe the Bills want Bernard to emerge from the pack. General manager Brandon Beane’s track record with second- and third-round picks in the last few years is spotty at best – A.J. Epenesa, Zack Moss, Boogie Basham, Spencer Brown, and we’ll see on James Cook and Bernard.

Bernard was a tackling machine at Baylor, but at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, he has the size of a safety and it remains to be seen how he’s going to negotiate the rugged terrain that a middle linebacker is faced with.

“I think when you look at just size, overall – at any position, right? – we’ve all seen it, you might have a player that fits the prototype, but doesn’t play that size,” Babich said. “To me, it’s not, ‘What does that person look like?’ It’s, ‘What is on the tape?’”

Obviously the Bills liked Bernard’s tape at Baylor, but now they need to see his skill set transition to a much different level than the Big 12. If it doesn’t, Dodson is probably the next-best bet because he has proven he can handle the job in a limited role when Edmunds was out.

The competition seemed pretty even during the OTAs and mini camp, and Babich said the training camp and preseason game reps will be meted out fairly with no set timetable on when a starter has to be named.

“I think what will happen naturally is there will be a conclusion at some point, but I don’t think it’s worth setting a date,” Babich said. “I don’t think that’s advantageous for anybody. I think the decision on who will be the Day One starter in September, it’ll come when it comes.”

Other questions to be answered during Buffalo Bills training camp 2023

Be sure to return to democratandchronicle.com for daily updates throughout the Buffalo Bills training camp. You can also sign up for Bills Blast, Sal Maiorana’s newsletter which will follow the Bills action all season long. Here are stories previewing some of the other questions that need to be answered during camp:

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills training camp questions: Who will win the starting MLB job?