Bears' Hype for Jordan van den Berg, Who Will 'Snatch Your Soul,' is Through the Roof

The Chicago Bears are reportedly very excited about Jordan van den Berg, who might have an awesome nickname thanks to his Georgia Tech head coach.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

We typically don't pay too much attention to late-round NFL Draft picks because they often either don't make the roster or amount to much in the NFL, but Chicago Bears sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

That's because the 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive lineman is an athletic freak for the position. According to Kent Lee Platte, van den Berg scored a 9.99 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) out of a possible 10. You just don't see that every day.

We're not the only ones who are excited about van den Berg, though. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Bears think they've scored themselves a steal in the Georgia Tech product because of his off-the-charts athleticism.

Adding to that, Fowler adds the Bears don't view him as a normal sixth-round pick and the team has "plans for him."

"The Bears believe they're getting a steal with sixth-round defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg out of Georgia Tech," Fowler reported. "Several of his testing numbers hit the highest mark on the Bears' internal scouting scale. My sense is the Bears have plans for him beyond that of a typical sixth-round flier and believe he was one of more gifted defensive tackles in the draft."

The soul -snatcher

Wake Forest offensive lineman Melvin Siani and Georgia Tech defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg. | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

The Georgia Tech product has a few dualities going on here.

Not only is van den Berg a big man who is a unicorn in terms of his athleticism, but he also has the right demeanor for the football field, even though he's a nice guy off it.

"He's the most polite person," Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key told 104.3 The Score. "But then on the field, he will absolutely snatch your soul out of you."

It's safe to say "Soul-Snatcher" would be a proper and awesome nickname for the Bears' sixth-round pick.

What Jordan van den Berg brings to the table

Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

There are more reasons than just athleticism to be excited for van den Berg.

According to Pro Football Focus, he tallied a 79.5 run defense grade in 2025, which was the second-straight year he finished north of 76 in that area.

That's huge because the Bears need to fix a run defense that gave up the sixth-most rushing yards last season and posted the seventh-worst run-stop win rate.

The Bears could use more juice in the pass-rush up the middle as well. While van den Berg's grade (61.9) wasn't as good in that area, he did post career-highs with three sacks and 29 pressures last season, which shows he's getting better.

We never want to get ahead of ourselves when it comes to any rookie, let alone a sixth-round pick, but we just can't help but be excited for what van den Berg could become with the right coaching in the NFL.