LAKE FOREST, Ill., — The 2026 season will be a big one for Chicago Bears defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr. He's going into his fourth season after being a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Florida.
When Chicago drafted Dexter, they envisioned him being a dominant player on the line. But they also did so in a different scheme. With Dennis Allen taking over last year, the Bears kept Dexter around and he produced a fine season, finishing with a career-high six sacks. He's improved each of his three seasons and while he hasn't been at a 'dominant' level consistently yet, he's hoping 2026 is finally that year.
On Tuesday, Dexter revealed exactly what he's been working on in hopes of taking his game to the next level.
"I think going back and looking at it, I felt like I needed to improve the start of the down, whether that's get-off or starting from the stance," Dexter said. "That's what I noticed. "It's more just getting a good stance, starting right, and then getting off the ball."
The one constant knock on Dexter has been his get off at the line of scrimmage.
At times it looks good, but more often than not, it's slower than it should be, causing him to be late on plays and sometimes lose leverage. Fixing that should improve his game and he's been focused on just that, training in the offseason.
This offseason, the Bears' coaching staff has put an emphasis on fundamentals. After not addressing the pass rush this offseason, Ben Johnson noted that better coaching should help improve the overall pass rush. They have turned to fundamentals, something that has been noticeable for Dexter so far in training.
"That was one of our main focuses when we came back," Dexter said. "We didn't do a lot of installs like we did last year. It was more focused on 100 percent fundamentals and what we could improve in that category. A lot. It's way different. It's night and day in my opinion."
With fundamentals being an emphasis, it's been both new things being taught and previous things being emphasized differently. In Allen's defense, it's more of an attack scheme with the defensive linemen, so getting off your stance better will help a player like Dexter attack. That could help him improve his game a lot.
And as training camp looms in over a month, Dexter is confident you will see a different player.
"You'll see the difference at the start of the down," Dexter said. "As soon as you turn on the tape or see practice, it's going to be a whole different person."
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