Analyst Shows How Gervon Dexter Is Starting To Display Elite Traits

If the Chicago Bears are going to become a competitive team again, GM Ryan Poles has to start hitting on his higher draft picks. Early signs with 1st round selection Darnell Wright look excellent. He’s ranked in the top 10 in run-blocking and pass-blocking through five games this season. While it hasn’t always been perfect, his progress has been rapid. The bigger question was Gervon Dexter. Chicago surprised people when they took the defensive tackle out of Florida. While he had a well-deserved reputation as a run-stopping nose tackle, it was felt he didn’t help their problems with interior pass rush.

However, Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus insisted that Dexter has the size, power, length, and athleticism to evolve into such a role. The key was improving his first step off the snap and polishing his hand-fighting techniques. His first few games were quiet. However, things have begun picking up steam lately. The breakout moment came on Thursday Night Football when Dexter had six pressures on Sam Howell, a career-high. He also was instrumental in helping the Bears smother their run game.

The Football Scout on YouTube, a respected tape analyst, revealed that the tape backs up the numbers. Dexter is evolving quickly.

Gervon Dexter is becoming scary.

He was already a problem for offenses because of his run-blocking. He’s so big and strong that single blocks won’t move him. He looks like a grown man and plays like it. Where it gets exciting, at least from the Bears’ perspective, is that he’s starting to use that length and improved quickness to blow through blocks into the backfield. His hand technique still needs work, and his pad level remains too high, but the improvement is noticeable. If he is this far along after five games, there is no telling where he’ll be two months from now.

Credit must go to the Bears coaching staff. They knew Gervon Dexter was a project when they drafted him. His pure physical ability was tremendous. The problem is he came from a different scheme in college that demanded other things from him. He was rarely required to get up the field. That is why his get-off was deemed too slow by draft experts. Eberflus and defensive line coach Travis Smith set about adjusting his fundamentals from top to bottom. It would require hard work and patience.

We’re starting to see results.