Dan Hampton has watched a lot of Chicago Bears football in his life. Pretty much since 1979. In that time, he played with several and watched even more as an analyst and fan. As a former defensive lineman himself, Hampton can imagine he is excited by the brief snapshots he’s gotten of Jordan Van Den Berg. The 6th round defensive tackle from Georgia Tech has been wreaking havoc in Bears training camp and the preseason. His mix of power and explosiveness has many wondering where the hell he came from. How did a talent this clear fall so far?
That is a long story. The easiest explanation is that Van Den Berg started his football career late as a South African native. He got a scholarship from Penn State, but failed to crack the starting lineup for three years. This forced him to risk transferring to Georgia Tech, where he blossomed into a quality starter by 2025. That is how the Bears noticed him. After watching the rookie for weeks, Hampton saw familiar memories stir up. He told Sports Mockery’s Kevin Wells that the Bears may have something.
The Jordan Van Den Berg comp to Steve McMichael isn’t crazy.
Just start with the physical dimensions. They are virtually the same height with similar length. McMichael was 40 lbs lighter, but that was the normal range for defensive tackles in that era. Both ran a sub-5.0 in the 40-yard dash, demonstrating explosiveness. Most of all, “Mongo” was known best for his aggressive and relentless style of play. It was a big reason why he had 90 sacks in his career.
| Metric | Steve McMichael | Jordan van den Berg |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6’2″ | 6’3″ |
| Weight | 270 lbs | 310 lbs |
| Arm Length | 31″ | 31 ⅛” |
| Bench Press (225 lbs) | N/A | 35 reps |
| 40-Yard Dash | 4.80 seconds | 4.94 seconds |
People these days always assume McMichael was some hot prospect when he got to Chicago. That is not the case at all. He was a 3rd round pick of the New England Patriots and cut after his first season with the team. The Bears took a chance on him in 1982, and he eventually developed into a Hall of Fame player. Jordan Van Den Berg might be coming from a different background, but he has the same mentality. Seek and destroy. No wonder Hampton likes him already.
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Hampton sees the talent. Will the rookie have the will?
That is what separated McMichael from many others. For as much talent as he had, the Bears legend was a tireless worker who took no prisoners on Sundays. Finding somebody with that level of willpower is difficult. Based on what we’ve seen over the last two weeks, Van Den Berg checks the boxes. There are no plays taken off. He is flying to the football on every snap. That is stuff you can’t teach. It is what made McMichael nigh-unblockable for over a decade.
The trick for Van Den Berg is bridging the gap between talent and technique. It’s one thing to be so gifted, but it won’t matter much if you can’t sharpen it enough to matter. The best players are the ones who can focus their abilities. The rookie isn’t there yet. He’s out of control and not playing with proper fundamentals. That isn’t a surprise. He’s young and still relatively inexperienced. The good news is that he has an excellent mentor guiding him in Grady Jarrett. If Van Den Berg follows his instructions, he will get a lot better quickly.
