Gervon Dexter is entering his third season with the Chicago Bears needing to show he can be a reliable starter on the defensive line. He was used as a rotational defensive tackle as a rookie before starting in 15 games in 2024.
The six-foot-six, 312-pound defensive lineman has the size to be a force in the league, but his results on the field have been mixed during his first two seasons in Chicago. He recorded 51 total tackles, five sacks, and four tackles for loss last season, playing in 67% of the Bears’ defensive snaps.
Pro Football Focus ranked Dexter 28th out of 219 interior defensive linemen in 2024. He excels in pass rushing but ranked 56th as a defensive tackle against the run.
A surprise leader on the Chicago Bears’ defense
Dexter is striving to become better in the upcoming season. Per Mark Grote of 670 The Score, Chicago’s No. 53 pick in the 2023 draft organized an offseason workout plan with multiple players on the defense in Florida. Defensive end Montez Sweat considers Dexter to be a leader on the defense.
“But the part that got me was that doesn’t alone necessarily mean that you’re a leader, but it means that you’re interested in making your team better,” Grote said on the “Rahimi & Harris Show” Friday of Dexter organizing the workout. “But when Montez Sweat is saying that (Dexter) is a leader, that says to me that this was going on last year in the locker room as well, which surprises me in a good way…
“I’m like, ‘Wow,’ low key this is very interesting because he has a voice in that locker room, and I love to hear it because he didn’t come across, honestly, as somebody who was in that locker room every day, as a guy who was a voice for the defensive line. He was always cordial to the media, always good to us, but I didn’t realize that he had stepped it up to that point.”
Gervon Dexter is in a talented DT room
Grote hopes that Dexter’s play on the field can live up to his vocal efforts in the locker room.
Dexter has the talent to be an elite defensive tackle in the league. There should be hope that he can take the next step in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s system.
The Bears have the best interior defensive line on paper during the era of general manager Ryan Poles. Veterans Grady Jarrett and Andrew Billings will mix with Dexter and rookie Shemar Turner, whom Chicago drafted in the second round this year.
Based on Sweat’s opinion, Dexter appears ready to make a big impact for the Bears on defense this fall.
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