Bears rookie defensive tackle Gervon Dexter has a lot to learn, but he’s eager to show off what he’s already got and what he already knows. He can’t wait for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Titans at Soldier Field.
“I’m ready,” said Dexter, a second-round draft pick (53rd overall). “I’m ready to compete. It’s my first NFL game. I’m prepared for it. I’m gonna prepare for it. I’m eager to play the game of football. I’m ready to fly around and showcase myself and showcase my talent.”
The preseason opener will be the first game-action glimpse of Dexter and fellow rookie defensive tackle Zacch Pickens, the Bears’ third-round draft pick (64th overall). The duo was drafted to fill a gaping hole in the middle of the Bears’ defensive line. But while they might eventually supplant starters Justin Jones and Andrew Billings as the biggest force on the interior line, it won’t happen overnight.
In fact, Jones and Billings have established themselves as starters in the early going in training camp. Dexter and Pickens are solidly in work-in-progress mode, as the coaching staff tries to mold both rookies into scheme fits that will optimize their impressive natural talent. Both are athletic enough to be good. The Bears want them to be great.
That figures to take time, but as long as Jones and Billings live up to expectations, Dexter and Pickens will be able to wade into the pool instead of being thrown into the deep end.
For the 6-6, 312-pound Dexter, the adjustment to the NFL has been as rudimentary as changing his stance. But he said he has adjusted well and that he is well-suited for what the Bears are asking. It’s not like trying to mold a square peg into a round one.
“Some of the skillsets that I wasn’t able to do in college, I kind of already was gifted with it,” Dexter said. “I already wanted to do some of the things in college that I get to do here now, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to. It was an easier transition, because I always wanted to get down in that stance and just get to go. I always wanted to be able to just rush the passer and showcase my talents. That’s some of [what] I get to do now an I think it’s going to be good for me.”
Like Dexter, the 6-4, 304-pound Pickens has made the kind of impact in training camp that might not yet push the starters, but allows the Bears to dream big. But also like Dexter, it’s a process.
“I think he’s going to be good,” Jones said. “I think he has a chance to be a really, really explosive d-lineman, because he definitely has the edge for it.”
Dexter and Pickens are good litmus tests for coach Matt Eberflus and his defensive staff. Both Dexter and Pickens are superior athletes — former 5-star recruits in high school — who probably can be good NFL players as they are, but can be great with a little bit of work.
Dexter, for instance, has to improve his “get-off” at the snap. And he has to play more consistently with a lower pad level — allowing him to gain all-important leverage over offensive linemen instead of just using his natural strength to explode through them. That’s not an easy thing for a 6-6 defensive tackle to do.
“He is really strong and can do some things [playing] a little higher and get away with it,” Eberflus said of Dexter. “But if he wants to be elite, he’s going to have top learn how to get off consistently and keep his pads down as he does that. He’s starting to do that. He’s looking better and better every day.”
