Column: Rookie defensive tackles Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens must emerge this season for Chicago Bears defense to rebuild

One of the questions looming after the NFL draft was how the Chicago Bears, last in the league in sacks in 2022, managed to select 10 players and not come away with a single edge rusher.

This isn’t to roll back the calendar more than four months and analyze how the draft unfolded. As general manager Ryan Poles explained afterward, he and his staff explored options to add a defensive end, including trading into the back of Round 1 or top of Round 2.

The right move didn’t materialize and Poles wound up following the values he and his staff identified on the board, a process that led to the selection of three defensive tackles — Florida’s Gervon Dexter Sr. in Round 2, South Carolina’s Zacch Pickens in Round 3 and Kennesaw State’s Travis Bell in Round 7.

The reality is the Bears desperately needed help at defensive tackle and it wasn’t a particularly good draft for edge rushers.

Beginning with Sunday’s season opener against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field, we’ll get an idea of how the team did reshaping the front with Dexter and Pickens while Bell develops on the practice squad.

A case can be made the development of Dexter and/or Pickens is as crucial to the success of the team in the 2023 season as first-round pick Darnell Wright, the starting right tackle chosen No. 10 to help reshape protection for quarterback Justin Fields. It might be even more significant to have one or, in a perfect world, both defensive tackles truly blossom. And their development will be curious in relation to how defensive tackle Jalen Carter performs for the Philadelphia Eagles. Carter, the former Georgia star, was sitting there for Poles at No. 9 and the Bears traded the pick, moving back one slot and opting for Wright.

Instead of dreaming about a player like Washington’s Daron Payne becoming available in free agency again — the Commanders used the franchise tag this past offseason before rewarding him with a $90 million, four-year contract — the Bears need to develop their own dominating presence in the middle of the defensive line. The team did a lot of work on Denver Broncos defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones before free agency. He wound up going to the Seattle Seahawks on a $51.5 million, three-year contract, presumably higher than the Bears wanted to go. Again, the best solution here is to draft and develop a powerful presence (or two) to anchor the line and reap the benefits of a rookie contract.

Dexter and Pickens are going to get as much playing time as they earn. Veterans Justin Jones and Andrew Billings are listed as starters. Jones played 68.4% of the snaps last season. In a perfect world, maybe that number dips slightly. Billings is a classic run-stuffer. He might not get more than 40% of the snaps. That leaves a ton of work for the newcomers.

Pickens filled about every statistical box you could ask for in preseason, finishing with 10 tackles, two for loss, two QB hits, one sack, one pass defended and a fumble recovery. Dexter flashed at times too and had four tackles and a pass breakup, missing on a sack opportunity in the preseason game at Indianapolis.

“Everything we practiced was in the games,” Pickens said. “So, it felt like everything started to slow down for me. When that happens, it’s easy to play your game and play fast. It goes with confidence and being around the veterans here. They help me out. I’m excited.”

It’s not easy for any rookie to transition in the NFL but coaches and personnel folks over the years have suggested the closer the rookie’s position is to the ball, the easier it is to make an impact immediately. Yes, quarterbacks are excluded and centers too. But running backs, guards, defensive tackles and edge rushers certainly can get rolling quickly. Even offensive tackles.

In a one-gap system like the Bears play, these two rookies are being asked to get off the ball and attack. It’s not simple but it sure as heck isn’t complicated. It’s not like they have outside contain. Even if they miss an assignment, they could still disrupt a play.

Jones and Billings are coming out of contract at the end of the season. If the Bears hit, they could have two young tackles growing up together as they once had in the middle of a Tampa Two scheme with Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson, drafted together in 2004. It’s time, as the Bears haven’t drafted and developed interior defensive linemen and hit it big in a while. Eddie Goldman was solid before he got a second contract, but the complete list of defensive tackles drafted by the team to make the Pro Bowl since Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael is short. Harris did it three times and Henry Melton represented the Bears in 2013.

Coach Matt Eberflus talked about the “cycle of the snap” for rookies and being able to focus from one play to the next. It will be interesting to see what the rotation looks like Sunday and how they’re involved on third down.

“They just fit,” Billings said of Dexter and Pickens. “Hats off to the scouts. Some guys come from a read-and-react system in college and don’t understand penetration. These rookies do and they just keep getting better.”