The Chicago Bears selected Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter with the 53rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Here’s a quick rundown on Dexter:
Height: 6-6
Weight: 310
Age: 21
From: Lake Wales, FL
Breakdown: The Bears need a 1-technique or 3-technique to pair with Justin Jones, who can help stop the run. Chicago’s run defense was the second-worst in the NFL and will improve immediately with Dexter in the middle. While his effort runs hot and cold, he has a rare combination of size, strength, and speed that doesn’t come around often. He’ll become a dominant interior player if he buys into HITS and the Bears system. — Nate Atkins
Dane Brugler’s scouting report: “A two-year starter at Florida, Dexter was primarily a 3-technique defensive tackle in co-defensive coordinator Sean Spencer’s four-man front, lining up everywhere from nose tackle to head up over the tackle. After giving up football to focus on basketball in middle school, he returned to the sport as a junior in high school and has shown incremental improvements over the last five years. Dexter carries his weight well with impressive foot quickness and pass rush potential, although you wish he had more backfield production to show for it. His impact can be traced to his ability to leverage – he is a very different player when he utilizes his long levers to put blockers on skates as a pass rusher or anchor, stack and work the point in the run game. Dexter must develop a more disciplined approach to turn the flashes into more consistent play, but he is an agile, coordinated big man who has yet to play his best football. He is a traits-based projection who can play up and down the line, which will interest both even and odd fronts.”
Lance Zierlein’s scouting report: “Dexter is frequently slow off snap, which tends to have a domino effect on both his hands and positioning in a negative way. His size and traits help him make plays even after being blocked early in the rep, but he will need to improve his hand usage as a pro. He’s a limited pass rusher with below average quickness and rush skill but can get there eventually if the play extends. Dexter’s physical profile might be hard for teams to ignore, and he could become a more consistent performer in a 3-4 defense.”
They said it: “You’re kind of piecing it together. Foot speed. The ability to get skinny. The acceleration of burst to finish. The toolbox in your pass-rush skills. Those go into it. And then what is he asked to do at his school? So for Dexter, little bit more of a square stance, read and mirror, when that’s the case, you’re not really on your toes and penetrating and getting up the field, so you got to piece those things together and that can help you show where the upside is and how in our system it can be even better in terms of how they affect the quarterback.” — Bears GM Ryan Poles
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