Defensive Tackles Vying for Attention

The Bears opened rookie minicamp with a realization about this year's crop, if not their team's roster.

Only two of the 10 players they selected last weekend figure to be starting on opening day, although a good-sized group figure to be substitutes in rotations. Only tackle Darnell Wright and second-round cornerback Tyrique Stevenson rate excellent shots at being immediate starters.

It was defensive coordinator Alan Williams who made it obvious the defensive tackles selected in Rounds 2 and 3, Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens, are vying for backup duties to Justin Jones.

"We have a three technique," Williams said. "That's Justin. Justin will be in there. But you know what, every great defensive line in the NFL, they have a wave of guys that go in and out. Every guy cannot play 60, 65 plays.

"So we need a good rotation of defensive linemen. Justin's a three and whoever's next will come in and they'll help Justin out. And then we'll have a wave of guys that will come in and out. If we're going to be great, that's what we're going to need to have, so we're working towards that."

The defense being mediocre would be an improvement, so being great seems a stretch considering they drafted no defensive ends.

"The older guys have the schemes, they understand how we want things done," coach Matt Eberflus said. "They've been through it before."

The two defensive tackles can't really show a great deal at this rookie minicamp because there are no pads, just light contact. Eberflus and Williams will watch both closely to find which is more capable of joining the rotation behind Jones.

"I want to see movement," Eberflus said. "I want to see get off. I want to see disruption. We’ll be able to see the athleticism, you know, being a good D-tackle.

"We've had some good ones (in Indianapolis) it's the ability to stay on your feet and stay alive on the play."

The scheme fit looks especially good to second-round pick Gervon Dexter. At 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, some thought him to big and a tad slow for three technique in a one-gap defense like the Bears run. It requires immediately attacking upfield and in many of his college games he seemed stuck at the line of scrimmage.

"So my responsibility at Florida in my junior year was more of two-gapping and kind of reacting," Dexter said before his first Bears practice. "Basically, if the guard steps down, you step down with him, if he steps out, you step out with him.

"Here, it's more of a just go, get vertical, penetrate and reset the line of scrimmage."

Dexter has had experience with this before the Gators played their current scheme.

"If you go back and watch my sophomore film and my freshman film when I was able to get down and penetrate, I think you will see a big difference," he said.

And now after Dexter saw what the Bears planned for him in meetings?

"Oh man, I loved it," he said. "That's one of the things I feel like I do best, that's kind of what I love doing, it's what I wanted to do. It's great for me."

Pickens likes the style, too, and there's more of him to like it. The 6-foot-3 1/2, 291-pound South Carolina product had dropped from playing weight around 305 pounds just to be able to run faster 40 times at the combine.

"So I look faster and I can run better," he said. "I may have looked good at 305 but I didn't look good running. So I dropped that weight just for a little bit. Now I'm like 304 or 301. So I got my weight back. It's hard to lose it but easy to get it back on."

Both players were on the field at the same time during parts of Friday's first minicamp practice, one at three technique and the other at the nose. They have free agent acquisition Andrew Billings to play the nose at a more appropriate 323 pounds.

There's more involved in the scheme than just attacking in their gap and Pickens has caught Williams' eye by being studious.

"But the things I do like are first of all they're big," Williams said. "Second of all, they're fast. I've been in the room with them for two meetings, and they are super intelligent and attentive. If you look at if someone cares about something, you can tell by the attentiveness in the room. So boy, they came in Day 1. They had their iPads. They had their pencil. They had their notebook. And they were taking–I learned a new word yesterday–copious notes. They were taking great notes.

"And they're quick-twitch. So there are a lot of really good things to like about both guys."

They might look good, but they'll be watching when the season begins, just like most of those drafted this year. That is, unless one of them proves to be able to translate those notes they're taking into production on the field at a rate greater than Jones does.

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