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Jordan van den Berg's Rookie Bears Task Now Includes Rare Pressure

The impressive late-round draft pick suddenly is thrust into the spotlight after Gervon Dexter's trade but what the Bears need from him might be unattainable.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg gets across his point after practice at Halas Hall.
Bears rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg gets across his point after practice at Halas Hall. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Chicago Bears video

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Chicago Bears

Make no mistake about it, the trade of Gervon Dexter to Atlanta put the spotlight on Bears GM Ryan Poles in a big way.

Whether you're in the camp seeing it as another example of how the Bears GM can't draft defensive players, or part of the group who thinks he did well to get something back for a defensive tackle Dennis Allen obviously didn't believe fit in is irrelevant in terms of this Bears season.

What is important is the Bears are taking a colossal gamble at defensive tackle and really with the whole defense. It all starts up front. Because of instability in the Bears' secondary, they need pressure up front to help out more than ever. Whether they can get it from the group assembled remains to be seen, but anyone who watched preseason or followed daily proceedings at training camp knows Jordan van den Berg is suddenly the next great find at defensive tackle.

If this is truly the case with van den Berg, it will be much easier for everyone to forget Zacch Pickens, Travis Bell and Dominique Robinson, past failed Poles defensive line picks. Then again, he did draft Austin Booker, who appears quite effective when not watching with an injury. Shemar Turner, meanwhile, remains in injury limbo.

A true gamble

This appears quite the gamble because no one can assume continued excellence from 33-year-old Grady Jarrett, who was anything but healthy or excellent last year. Neville Gallimore is a player who started 26 times in 83 games. Kentavius Street started 10 times in 85 games. Nothing there screams out guaranteed impressive reps.

Yet, there is van den Berg, and also uudrafted Jayden Loving, who surged at the final cut finish line.

The Bears badly need van den Berg to be everything they've seen in preseason, when he was facing subs and players who were cut on Sunday.

"You watch his college tape, he plays with pad level," defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett said. "He has a mean streak. He can bend, he can run. So there were no surprises.

"Now it's just honing it in to where he's not so out of control. Like, that's what you would see on this college tape. He was so out of control."

What are the chances Poles has actually uncovered a real diamond in Round 6 who can become a dominant defensive tackle?

Push aside any dislike or appreciation for what Poles has done in the past, and consider this: No defensive tackle taken in the last two rounds after 2018 has really accomplished much.

It's extremely rare finding DTs late in the draft

The best in that period might be the Colts' Jonah Laulu, who has 39 tackles and five sacks for two seasons of work. The next best may have been Roy Lopez, who has five sacks and 83 tackles but took five years and three teams to do it. Then there was a defensive tackle the Bears already had, Armon Watts. He has 8 1/2 sacks and 66 tackles in 778 games, but started out playing way back in 2019 and when he was with the Bears had half a sack to go with four tackles for loss in 2022.

That's the cream of the crop for defensive tackles chosen in Rounds 6 or 7 since 2018, the year Folorunso Fatukasi and Sebastian Joseph-Day entered the league as late-round defensive tackles. It took Joseph-Day eight seasons to make 15 1/2 sacks, and if van den Berg does this then he could be labeled a smashing late-round draft success.

It just doesn't happen. The defensive tackle position is so demanding, played at such a high level and against so many elite blockers compared to college that it normally takes years for them to develop and the numbers might not even show how effective they've been.

It's why the Rams have such a coup in getting Aaron Donald back out of retirement, assuming inactivity hasn't rotted his quickness and playing ability.

The pressure on van den Berg is rather huge for a rookie. Most sixth-rounders can sneak into the league hiding behind a few veterans and wade into the fray. With van den Berg it is going to need to be just like the Bears saw in preseason, because they don't have another viable option when it comes to dominant forces.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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