Jordan Van Den Berg started right where you’d expect a 6th round pick to: at the bottom. He arrived to Halas Hall with limited expectations from Chicago Bears fans. All they knew was he’d played defensive tackle at Georgia Tech. Aside from that, his story was a mystery. Over the following days and weeks, it became clear that Van Den Berg was a South African native and former rugby player who moved to the United States to pursue his dream of football. While a great story, it wasn’t enough to convince people he was anything more than a depth piece. That has changed since training camp began.
Day by day, Van Den Berg began moving up the depth chart. After starting with the third-string group, he moved up to the second, and has most recently started getting looks with the first-team defense. It isn’t an accident, either. Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen made it clear that it isn’t some casual experimenting. The rookie earned those promotions through his performance in practice. Allen explained in surprisingly extensive detail why the young defensive tackle is gaining so much steam.
Jordan Van Den Berg plays smart and hard.
“He’s another guy that’s really taken to the coaching,” Allen said. “He plays with great pad level. He can get in a good stance and come off and strike the line of scrimmage and he’s got some pretty good football instincts and plays extremely hard. A lot of the things that we saw on the tape at Georgia Tech, we’re seeing a lot of those same athletic qualities show up and I think that’s what training camp is all about. You have to go out and there and you have to let the guys go out there and compete and you have to let your eyes tell you. You’ve got to trust what you’re seeing, I guess is the right word.
“When you start off with the 3’s and then all of a sudden you show up and you catch our attention, then we’ve got to find ways to get you some reps with the 2’s and if you continue to catch our attention, then we’ve got to find some ways to get you some reps with the 1’s because that’s really how you evaluate what you have in the player. It’s one thing to say you can play really good against the third group, but can you take that same level with the 2’s and with the 1’s? I think any time a guy does well, catches our attention, he earns the opportunity to get more opportunities.”
Coaches don’t usually talk that way about a 6th round pick.
Allen could’ve just shrugged it off with a couple of sentences about Van Den Berg earning the reps and let it pass by. Instead, he explained why the rookie is earning those reps. He’s making it impossible to ignore him. That is the long and short of it. By all accounts, Van Den Berg has been bullying offensive linemen in 1-on-1 drills, showcasing a significant amount of power to go along with his explosiveness. It’s becoming easier to see why the Bears felt comfortable trading up for him.
This leads to an almost forbidden question. Is it possible Jordan Van Den Berg can play his way into the starting job? That sounds absurd at first. He’s a rookie, and the Bears have two established veterans entrenched as starters in Gervon Dexter and Grady Jarrett. Dexter had six sacks last season. Jarrett is a reliable presence and leader. Replacing them seems out of the question. That is, until you see what Adam Jahns of CHGO reported after last weekend’s practice.
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“The first full team period on Sunday included one interesting wrinkle for the Bears’ defensive line. Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. — who spent most of the practice with the starters — played with the third-team defense.”
Allen’s stance on Dexter is hard to read.
You would think the Bears defensive coordinator would be happy after the defensive tackle had 43 pressures last season. Then again, Dexter has struggled with consistency at times, particularly with his lack of get-off. He was tied for 20th last season among all defensive tackles in total pressures. There were seven games last season where Dexter had just one pressure or fewer. Allen would prefer somebody who can generate an interior rush every week. Jordan Van Den Berg has the right mix of power and quickness.
He has things nobody else on the roster has. That could be why the coaches are eager to get him on the field more often. What they need to know is whether he can handle the mental workload that comes with being a core part of the rotation. So far, so good. A decision is likely to come after the first two preseason games. If Van Den Berg carries his strong practices into actual game action, they may feel the risk is worth it.
