Do Chicago Bears think they found this future star in Gervon Dexter?

A player that we had heavily mocked to the Chicago Bears throughout the 2023 NFL draft process was Gervon Dexter. That is because he almost made too much sense for the team. We knew that they needed a three-technique, and if the Bears passed on Jalen Carter, Dexter is right in the mix for that role.

Could the Chicago Bears get a star talent from Gervon Dexter?

More than that, Dexter has all of the traits that any evaluator and coach would want in a player. He is a former basketball player, and he is raw because he played basketball only until he was a junior in high school. In just about four or five years of playing football, he made the NFL.

That is because the things he has are not teachable. He has the supreme size and athletic traits. In fact, his traits are eerily similar to Chris Jones.

This comes off a bit optimistic at first, and that is fair, but there is a reason for the comparison to be valid. When Dexter went to Florida, he was recruited by head coach Dan Mullen, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, and defensive line coach David Turner. This matters because those happen to be the exact coaches who recruited Chris Jones to Mississippi State.

In fact, when Dan Mullen recruited Gervon Dexter to Florida, he told people that he saw the ability for him to become Chris Jones.

Dexter was raw, and his coaching staff left, so the development took a turn, but the athletic upside is obviously still there, and one coaching staff thought so.

This has to be connected to the Chicago Bears because their General Manager Ryan Poles happened to be on the Kansas City Chiefs staff when Chris Jones was drafted. Chris Jones fell to round two, and it took the Chiefs talking to the coaching staff, and knowing his role to know that they could get more out of him.

Poles talked about the role of Dexter, and how the team could get more out of him in an NFL scheme.

" “You’re kind of piecing it together. Foot speed. The ability to get skinny. The acceleration of burst to finish. The toolbox in your pass-rush skills. Those go into it. And then what is he asked to do at his school? So for Dexter, little bit more of a square stance, read and mirror, when that’s the case, you’re not really on your toes and penetrating and getting up the field, so you got to piece those things together and that can help you show where the upside is and how in our system it can be even better in terms of how they affect the quarterback.”"

- Ryan Poles

It is one thing when the athletic comparison is there, and there are glimpses of similar playing styles. It is a whole different thing when the coach who recruited Jones and Dexter to college makes the comparison. Then, when the General Manager who drafted Dexter also was praised for helping draft Chris Jones you cannot ignore the comparison any longer.

It is definitelty too optimistic, and looks like a best case outcome, but the Chicago Bears could be thinking that they stole Gervon Dexter in round two in the same way that Kansas City thought that they stole Chris Jones.