JD Bertrand’s NFL future looked shaky not long ago, but the former Notre Dame captain is still standing in Atlanta.
On the league’s final cut-down day, Bertrand made the Falcons’ initial 53-man roster, brushing aside the talk that he had already been written off before training camp even got rolling. Some analysts had viewed him as “buried,” while others believed he’d have to fight just to survive on the 2026 roster. For now, he won that fight.
The linebacker’s path to this point has been uneven. Bertrand was a late pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and became a favorite among Atlanta fans and media early on, then gradually slipped out of favor over the last year. He did flash when injuries pushed him into a starting role, making his first career NFL start and finishing that game with five tackles in a 36-30 win over Tampa Bay.
But the bigger body of work hasn’t helped his case much. Bertrand has posted 35 tackles and two pass breakups as a reserve, yet Pro Football Focus has not been kind to him in either of his NFL seasons.
That skepticism only grew after his Week 8 start in a blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins. As Scott Kennedy wrote for On SI, Bertrand was on the field more than anyone else in that game, logging 68 defensive snaps and 12 more on special teams.
“One of a coach's jobs is to get his best players on the field as much as possible and put them in a position to succeed. Bertrand played more snaps in the Dolphins' loss than any player on either team. He played 68 snaps on defense and another 12 on special teams.”
“PFF gave him a 28.8 grade for the game.”
After that, his playing time shrank fast. Within three weeks, he had dropped on the depth chart, and over the final six games of the regular season he managed only five tackles, with most of those coming on special teams.
It’s a sharp contrast to the player Notre Dame leaned on so heavily. Bertrand was one of just 29 players to serve as captain for two straight years, and he led the Fighting Irish in tackles in both of those seasons.
In 2022, he piled up 82 tackles, 45 solo stops, 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, while adding three pass breakups and three quarterback hurries. That season earned him Notre Dame’s defensive player of the year honor.
He backed it up in 2023 by again pacing the team with 76 total tackles, 41 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, five pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries, along with a forced fumble.
So the talent has never been the question. Bertrand looks capable of being a solid, if unspectacular, NFL linebacker. The task now is proving that to a Falcons team that has already spent plenty of time doubting him.
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The timing matters because Wisconsin is already waiting, and the Irish are still working through uncertainty in how the line will be arranged. Notre Dame has been tweaking the setup to find the best answer for Carrs protection, which makes this one of the most important lineup decisions on the board before kickoff. If the group settles in quickly, it could look a lot like last years dependable front. If not, it becomes the kind of early-season question that can follow an offense into a tough matchup. [Read more 🡒]