All throughout this past offseason, Chicago Bears fans have been screaming the same thing: where's the pass rush help? Why hasn't Ryan Poles done anything to address the lack of depth at defensive end?
Do we really want to bank on this group?
Truly, nothing against the likes of Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, and others, but let's be honest. The Bears needed help four months ago, and they still need help now.
And, although it might not be the most orthodox way of getting help in this department, the Bears might actually be finding a nice supplement in rookie sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg. The defensive tackle, out of Georgia Tech, has been making waves in training camp as well as his first preseason action against the Cleveland Browns.
It is extremely rare that a team is able to supplement their lack of a pass rush, from the outside, with a force on the interior. But that's precisely what van den Berg looks to be doing. He is far from a finished product, but Bears fans are starting to see why he might be one of the next legitimate interior pass rushers in this league.
Jordan van den Berg is not only on the rise, but helping the Bears fix their pass rush
By now, many fans have probably seen at least a little of what he did against the Browns. On only 15 snaps, van den Berg had three quarterback pressures. Beyond the box score, though, his ridiculous athleticism showed up on tape.
If you go back and watch every snap from his preseason debut, the athleticism pops off the screen on several occasions. Fans may remember that, prior to the 2026 NFL Draft, van den Berg's RAS (Relative Athletic Score) was off the charts. He scored a perfect 10.00, which was second all-time behind Jordan Davis (minor differences in scoring).
It's one thing to see numbers like this thrown out on social media and in written content. It's another thing to see it within the game, and boy did we see it with him against Cleveland.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, though. In his final collegiate season, van den Berg totaled 29 quarterback pressures.
The context might shock you.
Kayden McDonald and Peter Woods, two of the top names in this year's defensive tackle class, totaled just 10 and 14 respectively, in their final seasons.
How's that for perspective?
Van den Berg, a sixth-round pick, was more than twice the force of a pair of first-round picks when it came to pressuring the quarterback.
That should have Bears fans over the moon, once more, because that's exactly the player we've seen throughout camp and in his initial preseason action.
The Bears probably aren't going to get 15.0 sacks out of van den Berg in a season, but there is absolutely a world where he contributes anywhere from 5.0 to 10.0 in a given year. Getting that type of pass rush production out of an interior lineman is going to give this defense a significant boost, especially knowing how badly the defense needs it.
Fans are hoping to see Booker take a leap and, ideally, land between 8.0 and 12.0 sacks while in a perfect world, Sweat finishes with 12.0 or more.
It wouldn't make the Bears top of the league by any means, but to be able to get that kind of production out of the starting defensive ends, along with a chunk of sacks from van den Berg, would be a best-case scenario in 2026.
Read more: 35 snaps is all Kaden Davis needed to decide his roster fate with the Bears
Van den Berg certainly looks capable of being a disruptor from the inside, and if he keeps getting his chances, the Bears might have found a long-term staple on this line while also helping repair a problem that was ignored.
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