When the Chicago Bears selected Georgia Tech defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, it was clear why.
At 6'3", 310 lbs with raw physical tools that included 35 reps on the bench press and a 4.9 second 40-year dash, there was potential for a genuine game-wrecker at the draft's late stages. What wasn't clear, though, was how long it might take for van den Berg to establish himself as part of the defensive interior's rotation.
Throughout camp, van den Berg drew enough positive praise from the coaching staff that it became clear that a role could be in store earlier than we might've thought. When the Bears sent defensive tackle Gervon Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons on cut-down day, that was all but confirmed.
Van den Berg will play a role as part of the defensive line mix, but Dennis Allen already has an eye on what his next stage of development will look like throughout his rookie year.
“The No. 1 thing was how he came out of his hips when striking blocks and keeping his head up," Allen said. "He’s got the skillset, physicality, and effort. Now it’s about developing a finishing move, striking, disengaging, shedding, and getting off the block to make the play or get to the QB. With defensive linemen, you can have a lot of ‘hidden production’ where you’re so disruptive you create opportunities for others. That’s where he’s at right now, and as we develop those finishing moves, that disruption turns into raw production.”
Everything that van den Berg possessed, according to Allen, are things that they were acutely aware of when they traded a pair of seventh-round picks to move up to select him in the sixth. His size and athleticism are going to allow him to make the type of impact we don't always see, but one that will allow others more freedom to document some of it on the stat sheet.
Meanwhile, there'll be an onus on van den Berg to develop that finishing move that Allen notes above. Once van den Berg reaches the point where he can engage with an opposing offensive lineman and turn that engagement into a play on the ball, that game-wrecker label could immediately come into play.
That we're already talking about van den Berg in this type of context speaks to the upside the Bears saw when they drafted him. Now with a clear pathway to playing time and a keen eye on his next frontier of development on the part of his defensive coordinator, the impact that was thought to be more long-term for Jordan van den Berg could be coming into focus much sooner.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Dennis Allen already knows Bears DT Jordan van den Berg's next step
