Bears

Most important Chicago Bears in 2025: No. 10 Gervon Dexter

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. celebrates after sacking Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis during their game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The wait is almost over. The Bears will return to the practice field on July 23 when they hold their first training camp practice under new head coach Ben Johnson.

Over two weeks, Shaw Local is counting down the top-10 most important Bears heading into the 2025 season. Importance is obviously subjective. But for our purposes, it comes down to these questions:

Are the Bears worse off without the player? Does the player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?

The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be.

Here’s a look at No. 10 on the list. Check back over the next two weeks to see the top-10 most important Bears.

No. 10 Gervon Dexter

Position: Defensive tackle

Experience: Third season

Looking back: Bears general manager Ryan Poles envisioned Gervon Dexter as part of the future of his defense a couple of seasons ago. Poles selected him in the second round, 53rd overall, in the 2023 draft with the hopes that Dexter would be a foundational piece in the interior of the defensive line.

Over two seasons, Dexter has shown glimpses that he can be that player. After serving as a backup during his rookie season, Dexter stepped into the starter’s role last year. He got off to a good start before his production dwindled as the team struggled.

Dexter had four sacks in the first five games last season to go with eight quarterback hits and 14 tackles. But he ended the year with five sacks, 19 quarterback hits and 51 tackles as the defensive line struggled to apply much pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

His production likely slowed down for multiple reasons. Dexter’s first year as a starter likely caught up to him as the year progressed. But more importantly, his starting partner Andrew Billings also missed the last nine games of the season with a pectoral injury, which allowed teams to focus on Dexter.

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. pursues New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye as he scrambles for yardage during their game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Looking ahead: There’s little doubt this season will be important for Dexter’s career and whether the Bears think he can be a part of their future. Dexter has two years left on his rookie contract, and he’ll try to prove that he can live up to what Poles envisioned a couple of years ago.

He’ll have a strong supporting cast to help him. Poles signed veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett during free agency and selected tackle Shemar Turner in the second round of this year’s draft. Billings will also return to the rotation.

Dexter has already taken more of a leadership role during the offseason. He invited fellow defensive linemen out to Miami during the offseason to work out and spend time together. Although Johnson has only worked with him for a couple of months, he was impressed with what he saw from Dexter as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator last season.

“He’s a guy that really came on last year,” Johnson said in the spring. “You could feel it. With Billings being out last year, you could feel him grow into a little bit more of, ‘I need to step up here.’ You could see it. You could see it on the tape. There was growth. There was more production, particularly in the pass rush game.”

Dexter will try to continue that growth in Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s aggressive play-calling. During the spring, Allen emphasized the importance of pressure from the interior of the line for everything to work defensively.

With more opportunities, Dexter should get a good chance to prove his worth this season.

Michal Dwojak

Michal Dwojak

Michal is a sports enterprise reporter for Shaw Local, covering the CCL/ESCC for Friday Night Drive and other prep sports for the Northwest Herald. He also is a Chicago Bears contributing writer. He previously was the sports editor for the Glenview Lantern, Northbook Tower and Malibu Surfside News.