Jordan van den Berg Showing More Than Just Athleticism at Chicago Bears Training Camp

We heard a lot about Jordan van den Berg's athleticism after the Bears drafted him, but he's got plenty of strength and the right level of nasty, too.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the Chicago Bears drafted him in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, all the buzz surrounding defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg had to do with his athleticism.

And rightly so — van den Berg's pre-draft testing led to an off-the-charts Relative Athletic Score of 10 out of 10, which ranked second among all defensive linemen since 1987.

But through the first week-plus of training camp, van den Berg is showing he also has plenty of strength and just the right level of nasty, too.

The Geogia Tech product's first week of training camp was pretty quiet, but business has picked up during the second week with several beat writers highlighting his play of late.

“Rookie DT Jordan absolutely blew up OL on a rep with the third team," Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune stated. "Van den Berg has had two plus reps in 1-on-1 pass rush. Overpowered Logan Jones and shoved Luke Newman aside."

Then, we saw a combination of van den Berg's strength and edge when he got into a fight with fellow rookie and offensive lineman Caden Barnett and body slammed him to the ground.

"Rookie sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg slammed Caden Barnett onto the ground after a snap with the third-team offense," the Chicago Tribune's Sean Hammond wrote.

Jordan van den Berg's ascension

The rookie went from being nearly an afterthought during camp to someone who is now pushing for legitimate snaps for Chicago.

As CHGO Bears' Adam Jahns noted, van den Berg saw reps with the first-team defense on Day 8 on Thursday.

"Rookie development: the Bears are in the middle of an inside run drill right now and rookie DT Jordan van den Berg was part of the rotation with the starters," Jahns wrote.

As van den Berg continues to make more and more noise on a daily basis, his teammates are certainly noticing.

"I think we all see it on the field that he's a really good player," Austin Booker told Jahns.

The buzz surrounding van den Berg made ESPN's Jeremy Fowler remind us this little nugget he had on the rookie following the draft.

"Bears have big plans for van den Berg, more so than most sixth-round fliers. He tested off the charts in Bears' pre-draft scouting system," Fowler wrote.

It's pretty typical for sixth-round picks to face an uphill climb to make a 53-man roster in the NFL, but van den Berg looks set to not only buck that but grab a role in Chicago's defense, also.