Setting rookie expectations for Chicago Bears DL Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens

The Chicago Bears brought in two defensive tackles in the late second and early third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Considering the pick was one slot higher than normal, the Pickens pick was also a second-round pick. Between the two, the Bears' plan is to mix and match their usage at the 1-technique and the 3-technique to see which players fit best in each role.

Expectations for Chicago Bears DL Zacch Pickens and Gervon Dexter

Since 2011, the following defensive tackles have been drafted in the same range as Zacch Pickens and Gervon Dexter and turned into NFL starters at the next level. These are the players the Chicago Bears want to see Dexter and Pickens turn into.

Jarran Reed Dalvin Tomlinson Chris Jones Eddie Goldman Austin Johnson Raekwon Davis Malik McDowell A'Shawn Robinson Kendall Reyes Timmy Jernigan Jerel Worthy Jordan Phillips Christian Barmore Kawann Short Levi Onwuzurike Logan Hall Stephon Tuitt DeMarcus Walker

Of those names, they averaged 448 snaps played as a rookie. DeMarcus Walker only played 100 snaps as a rookie, while Malik McDowell played 646, so the most snaps do not equal supreme success. However, Christain Barrmore, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Chris Jones were the others to get on the field a ton as rookies, and that did lead to success. All of them were over 570 snaps as rookies.

These linemen averaged anywhere between 1 and 5.5 sacks. Only Raekwon Davis did not record a sack, and he is much more defined as a nose tackle. If Dexter and Pickens finish with zero sacks as rookies they probably are not the 3-technique answer.

Kendall Reyes had 5.5 and Eddie Goldman had 4.5 as rookies. Chris Jones only had two sacks, so while they need to get on the board, a sack or two is all we are asking for.

Lastly, these second-round players averaged 27 tackles, with three tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits. Dalvin Tomlinson led the way with 50 tackles, while DeMarcus Walker just had seven.

Kawaan Short, Timmy Jernigan, Chris Jones, and Kendall Reyes were the only players to record 10 quarterback hits as rookies, while Austin Johnson, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Raekwon Davis were just at one.

Reyes, Short, and McDowell had seven tackles for loss, while Jarren Reed, Walker, Davis, and Austin Johnson had just one.

While we did not sort out for round taken in the NFL draft, we did look at defensive linemen who played 300 snaps or more as a rookie. Of those players, we saw on average 13 run stops and 13 pressures.

Christian Barrmore led the way with 51 pressures, while Kevin Givens, LJ Collier, and Kingsley Keke had just one. Meanwhile, Daron Payne had 34 run stops, and Givens had just one.

Overall, the baseline of expectations for the Chicago Bears' two new defensive linemen will be 448 snaps, 27 tackles, two sacks, five quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss with 13 pressures and 13 run stops.

Now, we will look back at this next season and see if Dexter and Pickens hit these expectations.