Trading Gervon Dexter was a shock to many, from fans to the media. Why ship out a guy who was second on the team in sacks last season with 6? The explanation is a complex one. Dexter had only one year left on his contract. It was pretty evident the team had no plans to bring him back. Do they ride it out another year and hope to get a compensatory pick later, or flip elsewhere for decent draft capital now? They chose the latter. However, the simplest explanation is often the best one. The primary reason the Chicago Bears felt comfortable moving on from Dexter was the rise of Jordan Van Den Berg.
Nobody expected anything from the 6th round pick out of Georgia Tech. Why would they? He’s a 6th round pick who had one good season of production in college. He’d failed to carve out a role at Penn State after three years, forcing him to transfer elsewhere. Yet the Bears saw someone with elite athletic traits and the power to match them. If that potential could be honed to a sharp edge, he had the makings of a major hidden gem. After three preseason games, 53 snaps, and 7 quarterback pressures, it’s plainly evident they got something.
Jordan Van Den Berg is such an anomaly.
You have to understand the circumstances. Finding good players in the late rounds of a draft is always rare. Finding good defensive linemen is almost impossible. More specifically, good interior pass rushers. You can get away with unearthing a solid nose tackle in that range, but NFL teams are so desperate to find interior rushers that anybody with a lick of talent is often gone by the 5th round at the latest. Van Den Berg’s unique circumstances somehow allowed him to slip through the cracks.
We already mentioned his quiet tenure at Penn State. He’s also 24 years old, which is on the older side for draft prospects. Then you must remember he is a South African native with a rugby background. Players like that haven’t had much success transitioning to American football at any meaningful level. Combine all of those factors, and it becomes easier to understand why Jordan Van Den Berg didn’t generate much buzz. That didn’t deter the Bears, who traded up from the 7th round to get him.
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The Bears are taking a rather sizable risk.
Of the five defensive tackles they kept, two of them are rookies. One is Van Den Berg and the other is undrafted free agent Jayden Loving. Both were terrific in the preseason. Still, an important part of your depth chart in the hands of such inexperienced players is a gamble. That tells you how much the Bears coaching staff likes both players. It is worth noting that expectations are that Chicago will bring back veteran James Lynch in the next day or two after Injured Reserve moves process. That should mitigate the concerns.
The bigger question is how the Bears will deploy this lineup. Is it possible that Van Den Berg could be a starter? It may sound crazy, but it’s not. Grady Jarrett doesn’t offer much interior pass rush these days. Still, he’s a good run defender. That means he could play nose tackle. This leaves the choice between Van Den Berg and Neville Gallimore for the three-technique spot. Gallimore has the experience advantage, but the rookie has the talent. He’s played so well this past month. Coaches may just decide the growing pains are worth it just to have him out there.
