R2 P53: Gervon Dexter Sr., DL - Florida

[dplank]

A+ pick IMO. Exactly what we need, big strong athletic guys that won’t get pushed around. Remember we have a great LB corps now, so these DL just need to keep guys off them to make plays.

[Grizzled]

The Bears' DeForest Buckner. Run support, which the team dearly needs. Mayhaps he can be coached to be better in pass rushing.

Poles' philosphy in drafting: high athletic abilties, meets a certain physical standard, played for a big time athletic program. He's not an adherent of Pace's "hidden gems" small school philosophy.

[IE]

Fascinating Kollman mentioned Dexter's ability to bench press... when it is actually his weakest part on the RAS chart.

Bruce Feldmans Freak List:
83. Gervon Dexter, Florida, defensive tackle
He was a bright spot in a down year for Florida, making 51 tackles and four TFLs. This is a huge man who moves well at 6-5 1/2, 313 pounds with 24 percent body fat. Dexter squats 655 pounds and benches 425. “Gervon is a unique body type with an elite mixture of height, length and muscle makeup,” strength coach Mark Hocke said. “He’s strong enough to hold the point and quick enough to affect the QB, making him an every down QB nightmare.”
https://theathletic.com/3488797/2022/08 ... list-2022/

Yeah - I like this pick a lot, and guessed Poles would draft him in the contest. For whatever reason, he only did 22 reps on the bench and that is really the only bad mark on his RAS. I knew he was an athlete but listening to Poles presser I learned he's an ex basketball player who has only been playing football for a few years. The guy is a real athlete. He's only marginally slower than most TEs in the league. So that gives me Melton or Idonije vibes - and I love it. That's my comp for Dexter - bigger stronger Izzy.

Poles also explained clearly that what Dexter was asked to do at Florida (being stout and covering gaps) is the reason he doesn't have some of the glam stats, and he'll be asked to do different things in Chicago as a 1T 3T hybrid. Get the QB! AND stop the run!

[EricTighe]

Banking on this kids upside. He is a guy that could be another guy or could develop into a 10-year pro bowler. He has all the traits you are looking for.

[dplank]

Mel Kiper gave our Rd2 a big thumbs down, so that worries me. But Mel isn't Nostradamus or anything, and his main reasoning seems to be us passing on Jalen Carter. Given how things shook out, I'm totally fine skipping that Carter risk. We got a monster RT and two stout inside DL with upside.

[dave99]

Mel Kiper gave our Rd2 a big thumbs down, so that worries me. But Mel isn't Nostradamus or anything, and his main reasoning seems to be us passing on Jalen Carter. Given how things shook out, I'm totally fine skipping that Carter risk. We got a monster RT and two stout inside DL with upside.

[video][/video]

[EricTighe]

Mel Kiper gave our Rd2 a big thumbs down, so that worries me. But Mel isn't Nostradamus or anything, and his main reasoning seems to be us passing on Jalen Carter. Given how things shook out, I'm totally fine skipping that Carter risk. We got a monster RT and two stout inside DL with upside.

Plus there is a reason no team in the NFL has ever offered him a job.

I will never forget how he loved these picks. 2003 draft grades.
Chicago Bears: B

I like the addition of Michael Haynes at defensive end, and I have always been high on Rex Grossman at quarterback. Charles Tillman is a nice addition to the secondary, and Lance Briggs will give the Bears some versatility at linebacker with his ability to play inside or outside. Chicago also added some depth at wide receiver with Bobby Wade and Justin Gage.




Grossman bust.
M. Haynes Bust.
Good thing Tillman was nice and Briggs could give us some versatility.
We all know how Wade and Gage answered all our WR woes.

[Heinz D.]

Plus there is a reason no team in the NFL has ever offered him a job.

Didn't Kiper like Cade McClown, too?

[IE]

IMO Poles and Cunningham and team can tell Kiper to go get his shinebox.

[dave99]

Kiper is OK but he is no Joel Buchsbaum, an analyst some NFL folks actually listened to.
https://www.joebucsfan.com/2021/04/the- ... chsbaum-8/

[IE]

Production? You want production? This dude had 50 tackles last year and upped it to 55 this year. Thats almost double some of these otger guys people wanted. Plus and a big plus, as mentioned, he was "available" for games, all games, for 3 years. Very nice pick with more potential in the NFL and good coaching.

No kidding.

Bear fans: Poles blew it by not paying Daron Payne big bucks in FA

Also Bear fans: I don't like Dexter's production

Also Bear fans: Not knowing Dexter was more productive in college than Payne - 5 sacks to 3. 125 tackles to 102, 48 tackles to 39. And like Poles mentioned, Dexter really wasn't even asked to rush the QB he was a gap control guy.

[The Marshall Plan]

IMO Poles and Cunningham and team can tell Kiper to go get his shinebox.

I can't let that reference go without posting the YouTube.

Now, if Poles was a character in a mafia movie, who would he be?

[RichH55]

I like this one. Loads of potential and a guy who played the most snaps of any interior DL over the past two seasons.

I was gonna mention the snap thing. Usually a very positive indicator

[RichH55]

Mel Kiper gave our Rd2 a big thumbs down, so that worries me. But Mel isn't Nostradamus or anything, and his main reasoning seems to be us passing on Jalen Carter. Given how things shook out, I'm totally fine skipping that Carter risk. We got a monster RT and two stout inside DL with upside.

[video][/video]

Pretty sure Mel was right on that one. Mel used to have better contacts

[The Cooler King]

Mel is good. Anyone who's done it as long as him will have plenty of misses and hits to cherry pick. The best in the business are usually "right" about half the time.

[thunderspirit]

Yeah, the Kiper hate is just odd.

Dude has a job we'd all love, watching football for a living.

[Grizzled]

Kiper has the best record at predicting which guys will be more than one year wonders.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Mel Kiper is a total moron. Full stop. How that guy still has a job I'll never know. He's built his entire career on BS.

[Bearfacts]

Fascinating Kollman mentioned Dexter's ability to bench press... when it is actually his weakest part on the RAS chart.

Bruce Feldmans Freak List:
83. Gervon Dexter, Florida, defensive tackle
He was a bright spot in a down year for Florida, making 51 tackles and four TFLs. This is a huge man who moves well at 6-5 1/2, 313 pounds with 24 percent body fat. Dexter squats 655 pounds and benches 425. “Gervon is a unique body type with an elite mixture of height, length and muscle makeup,” strength coach Mark Hocke said. “He’s strong enough to hold the point and quick enough to affect the QB, making him an every down QB nightmare.”
https://theathletic.com/3488797/2022/08 ... list-2022/

Not altogether sure why this pick came as a surprise. Several pre-draft mocks had him being drafted by the Bears.

Flus used DeForest Buckner at a 3tech at Indy and this kid while not as highly graded coming out as Buckner was certainly fits as a similar body type. He may end up as the starting 3 tech or take on a role more similar to that of Akiem Hicks playing run stopper which he seems quite good at and being able to bull rush or penetrate as a pass rusher. He's more of a hybrid DT.

I'd say he's more of a prospect with the right size and athleticism for the DL coaching staff to mold into what they expect from him that a late round project type kid. From watching his videos what I see is a kid whose around the ball a lot on runs and while not a sack artist his size and ability penetrate is a threat on passing downs. He can disrupt which is what a 3 tech is supposed to do.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

If this kid buys in, he'll be as good as he wants to be. He's got all of the athleticism in the World, and he's got the size.

[thunderspirit]

Quite the physical comp here.

https://ras.football/ras-compare/?p1=15 ... 460&pos=DT

[TheWorldBreaker]

Mel is good. Anyone who's done it as long as him will have plenty of misses and hits to cherry pick. The best in the business are usually "right" about half the time.

I don’t think his evaluations are that good, and he staked his professional reputation on Jimmy Clausen and claimed he’d quit if he was a bust. So he’s not a man of his word.

He’s also irresponsible and inconsistent in his evaluations, e.g. making excuses for Will Levis this year—which leads to the public and sometimes players having expectations that don’t match reality.

I think Kiper is a beneficiary of being first more than being super accurate in his evaluations.

[Bearfacts]

[video][/video]

Pretty much how I saw this combo of picks as well. Dexter is a run stopper who needs to learn how to use his skills to pass rush where as Pickens is the 3tech they hope can rush better on 3rd down than Justin Jones. They'll also have Walker to move inside as a 3tech and this is probably as good is it gets for now. It's a better interior DL than 2022 but it has a long way to go yet.

[Shadow]

The best ability is availability. Also, the Bears simply could not tackle last year. Looks to be a point of emphasis this year.

[IE]

Mel is good. Anyone who's done it as long as him will have plenty of misses and hits to cherry pick. The best in the business are usually "right" about half the time.

This is true he's very knowledgeable. People don't like his bluster and ego - but he does know his stuff.

I think the twist here and what people are meaning, is Kiper is also extremely biased once he puts his stakes in the ground and declares who is best. And then if someone goes in another direction - even with highly thought-through rationale and a solid plan - Kiper dumps all over it like if you disagree with him you're a moron. HIs take is far more about individual players than it is team building. And like somone else pointed out wisely yesterday, "I get what you are saying, but part of it is also roster texture."

I think Poles thought enough of Wright that, combined with the clear need at RT, it made sense to pass up on a guy that might not gel with the organization even if he very well may be the better player. And then in addition, in a draft deep in athletic DTs, Poles had a plan to get his version of Tommie and Tank soon after. If Poles took Carter he'd have a DT who might be better over time than Dexter (but maybe not), and he would have been forced to draft an OT that might get stuck in a legit position battle with Larry Borom, and he would have missed out on another player they like (Stevenson, Pickens, or whoever that 4th rounder next year ends up being). Kiper doesn't care about any of that - he's only commenting on who is the better player at what spot in the draft. And even then like you mentioned, even the most knowledgeable get a lot wrong. I think for that reason Kiper could use a little more humility (but I understand it's about the persona with him).

[Bearfacts]

The question I always ask whenever I read a grading of a Bears draft is how well did the writer or pundit doing the grading understand the Bears needs and philosophy regarding rebuilding a roster? One guy gave the Bears a D- seemingly only because the Bears passed on Carter for Wright. To me that's overly harsh and opinionated.

While taking Carter may have been worth an A or even an A+ based on earlier player rankings and grades it pretty obvious among teams picking top ten those rankings had fallen before 4/27 when it came time to make the decision just as it did for Poles. Wright is without question the best RT in the draft and arguably the second best OL overall.

So for someone to drop a grade from an A to a D- only because they player he felt should've been drafted is pretty ludicrous on face value alone. The best value with the highest floor and a high upside happened to be at a position of major need and Poles stuck with his principles and drafted him. Both players may end up All Pros but of the two if one was more likely to be a problem it was Carter.

While Carter may have been the better pick to juice up the DL and the pass rush Wright and the picks made in round two and early round three did more to juice up the entire roster. While that may not be the target for the NFL Draftniks it should be the target of an NFL GM. Poles drafted 6 of Dane Brugler's top 100 players. If they all pan out that will mean more than Jalen Carter alone.

[The Kaiser]

Here's a nice little analysis by a Cowboys fan. Lot of good video and commentary.

[Grizzled]

I like that he's still growing.

[Hoog]

I like the way our D line is set up now. You have two "solid" vets in Jones and Billings, now you add the two young guys with high end talent. You also signed two guys in Walker and Greene who can slide inside to add some pressure when needed. Its a mix and match how you see fit line. Love the potential here.