Fans and experts were somewhat surprised when the Chicago Bears selected Gervon Dexter in the 2nd round this past April. Many felt the Florida product was a big, strong defensive tackle with excellent run-stopping ability, but he wouldn’t help with pass rush issues. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus both disagreed. They felt his mixture of size, length, and athleticism made him a unique physical specimen. With proper teaching and adjusting of his playing style, he could become far more than what he was in college.

It appears their confidence was justified. Dexter had nine total pressures on the quarterback through his first nine games this season. In the six games since then, he has 16 pressures, including two sacks. His development has been rapid. Even faster than former Bears defensive end Corey Wootton expected. He spoke to CHGO about what has gone into Dexter’s progress. There is no question he has figured some things out, but one thing is clear. The rookie is doing this while still having a ton of technical issues.

That alone should terrify future opponents.

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Ability was never the issue with Gervon Dexter.

He always had the physical tools to be a dominant force at the NFL level. People with his mixture of size, length, power, and athleticism are rare. It is why a few draft experts admitted they saw flashes of Chris Jones when watching him on tape. The problem was always consistency. He didn’t have the quickest get-off and clearly lacked understanding of how to keep his pads low. These aren’t uncommon issues for young defensive linemen coming out of college. Such details aren’t always required when facing mostly competition that won’t do much in the pros.

That changes fast when going against Pro Bowlers and 10-year vets in this league. If you don’t diversify your attack, shutting you down becomes easy. To his credit, Gervon Dexter is aware of this. He’s mentioned his pad level issues on more than one occasion. The first part of solving a problem is understanding there is one. He has improved on it steadily over the season, as evidenced by his uptick in production. If he is moving along this fast, there is no telling what he might become going into 2024.

That probably has the Bears excited.