5 pleasant surprises on the Chicago Bears through Week 4

The Chicago Bears are 2-2 through the first four weeks of the 2024 NFL season. While this is probably where most fans should have expected the team to be at this point, there will always be some surprises and disappointments in every season.

Through four games, what have been the most pleasant surprises?

5. Gervon Dexter hit his career-high in sacks in year two with the Chicago Bears

One of the biggest questions entering the 2024 season was how much of a step forward Gervon Dexter would take. The team was relying on the second-round pick to replace Justin Jones after being a rotational player as a rookie. So far, he looks like he can take on the full-time role. 

Dexter has three sacks through four games. Some of this just comes down to timing. He had 29 pressures last season that generated those 2.5 sacks, but this year he has three sacks on nine pressures. He may have improved his ability to finish those pressures, but the odds are that this will level out a bit. 

Still, Dexter is playing significantly more while still producing. He is on pace to take 433 pass-rush snaps this year after just 297 last year. That is a big jump, but his pressure rate is still about the same. 

Dexter is also going to go from 134 snaps against the run to being on pace for 315 run defense snaps. He is already over halfway to his run defense snap count this season and has four run stops, per PFF. He had six last year. 

Dexter is going to more than double most of his stats from his rookie season, which is a great pace to be on.