Did JD Bertrand help or hurt his NFL Draft stock at the Senior Bowl?

JD Bertrand has long been one of the best defenders on the Notre Dame football team. He's never had less than 76 tackles in a season where the Irish played at least 10 games. That included racking up 76 tackles and 2.5 sacks for one of the best defenses in college football this past season.

Despite being the captain of that defense, despite putting up very good numbers for several years, Bertrand isn't talked about all that much when it comes to the 2024 NFL Draft. That might be one of the reasons that he decided to play in this year's Senior Bowl.

It turns out that JD Bertrand was one of several Notre Dame football players who were hoping to see their NFL Draft stock increase with a good performance in the Senior Bowl. For Bertrand, it's hard to know if he really helped his stock, but he couldn't have hurt it.

It took Bertrand just five defensive snaps to make his first stop, a tackle for loss against TCU running back Emani Bailey. Bertrand added another tackle before halftime.

The former Notre Dame football linebacker finished with three tackles and was among the most active defenders on the National team. He also had one player where he got a near-interception on the tip drill.

Did JD Bertrand help or hurt his NFL Draft stock at the Senior Bowl?

To be honest, it can be hard for a player to really earn any kind of NFL Draft cushion by playing in the Senior Bowl. It's possible that the only thing a player can do is hurt his cause. That certainly seems to be what Sam Hartman did.

When all is said and done, it will be what JD Bertrand did as a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is going to go a lot farther.