Fans and experts were somewhat surprised when the Chicago Bears selected Gervon Dexter in the 2nd round this past April. Many felt the Florida product was a big, strong defensive tackle with excellent run-stopping ability, but he wouldn’t help with pass rush issues. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus both disagreed. They felt his mixture of size, length, and athleticism made him a unique physical specimen. With proper teaching and adjusting of his playing style, he could become far more than what he was in college.
It appears their confidence was justified. Dexter had nine total pressures on the quarterback through his first nine games this season. In the six games since then, he has 16 pressures, including two sacks. His development has been rapid. Even faster than former Bears defensive end Corey Wootton expected. He spoke to CHGO about what has gone into Dexter’s progress. There is no question he has figured some things out, but one thing is clear. The rookie is doing this while still having a ton of technical issues.
That alone should terrify future opponents.
Ability was never the issue with Gervon Dexter.
He always had the physical tools to be a dominant force at the NFL level. People with his mixture of size, length, power, and athleticism are rare. It is why a few draft experts admitted they saw flashes of Chris Jones when watching him on tape. The problem was always consistency. He didn’t have the quickest get-off and clearly lacked understanding of how to keep his pads low. These aren’t uncommon issues for young defensive linemen coming out of college. Such details aren’t always required when facing mostly competition that won’t do much in the pros.
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That changes fast when going against Pro Bowlers and 10-year vets in this league. If you don’t diversify your attack, shutting you down becomes easy. To his credit, Gervon Dexter is aware of this. He’s mentioned his pad level issues on more than one occasion. The first part of solving a problem is understanding there is one. He has improved on it steadily over the season, as evidenced by his uptick in production. If he is moving along this fast, there is no telling what he might become going into 2024.
That probably has the Bears excited.
@ Sam k true both players have the same HC, but Eberflus is a defensive coach thus has limited knowledge of how to develop a quarterback and much knowledge to develop a defensive guy.
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Dexter is going to be a pro-bowler in the future. The commitment to Justin Jones has derailed his production IMO. Zack Pickens has flashed but, it’s hard to stay consistent in a 3 man rotation at 3-tech. Also, I believe they have the positions backwards. Dexter should be a NT(1 Tech) mainly, but can play 3. Pickens is the prototypical 3Tech, but we have him playing NT. Again, we should’ve traded him and put the 2 rookies on display. Sweat has elevated the play of all, but a guy that you’re not keeping around next year in Jones, has 3… Read more »
IMHO, Dexter hasn’t suddenly come around, He was already there. The coaches just wouldn’t put him on the field. That’s been a problem with this organization for years, starting guys who makes the most money or have been here longer over a guy that is playing better. That’s a fatal flaw for a coach especially in a rebuild. Dexter should have been playing full time on day 1, especially on a line that was so atrocious last year and he may have been even better at this point.
It still hurts my heart they didn’t come to play week 1, at home, against GB. Love shredded us for 3 touchdowns. I’m sorry, but that was my low point of the season. Our QB had a fumble, INT, and was sacked 4 times. Our K and P came to play, though.