Bears traded their two 7th round picks (239 and 241) to move into the end of the sixth and take this guy. Born in South Africa and grew up playing rugby. Seems like he progressed finally a bit this year. Wonder if he might qualify as an international roster exemption which can sometimes be useful with a late pick you don’t want to lose. Heard the show say he can maybe play inside and outside similar to Dayo and Shemar. Oh, and I’d say he’s a pretty good athlete . . .

I was going to mention that as an international player, he wont count against the roster.

An interesting stat is with 44 Ts his average depth of tackle was -.11 yards on run plays which is incredible.

Yes we got the freak.

Oh no - he’s a Packers fan!

Green Bay Packers On SI

This Packers Fan Is Most Athletic, Interesting, Underrate...

When Jordan van den Berg says it’s in his DNA to be a professional football player, he’s not kidding. His grandfather, Francois van den Berg, twice placed in th

Oh no. Not again.

He didnt get invited to the Combine but did 35 BPs which would have been second in all positions.

1 hour ago, dawhizz said:

Oh no. Not again.

Lol, why did you?

30 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

Lol, why did you?

I believe his trainor is Jarron Gilbert.

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I velueve his trainor is Jarron Gilbert.

I’m good going for a raw player newer to sport who is an elite athlete. And because he’s euro you can kind of stash him for developmental purposes.

10 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I’m good going for a raw player newer to sport who is an elite athlete. And because he’s euro you can kind of stash him for developmental purposes.

I just seen my message, I think my phone is drunk. Fixed it.

Brought to you by busch light

I know I'm a Peter Woods hater already, but am I crazy for liking this guy in the 6th more than Peter Woods in the 1st? They were the two All-ACC DTs for this year, so very similar competition, and, admittedly, van der Berg is three years older (24) than Woods (21), but:

Woods van der Berg

Height 6'2" 6'3"
Weight 298 310

Arm 31 1/4" 31 1/8"

Hand 9 1/8" 9 3/8"

Vertical 29" 36"

Broad 8'8" 9'11"

40 N/A 4.94

20 N/A 2.75

10 1.67 1.61

Shuttle 4.54 4.19

3-cone 7.70 N/A

Bench N/A 35

2025 tackles 30 44

2025 TFL 3.5 11.0

2024 sacks 2 3

Not at all. The Bears probably had similiar grades on them and knew a first was too high for Woods.

Ive noticed a lot of guys I like and target always end up going much higher. Gonna take that with me when I get into next the draft around Feb

1 hour ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Not at all. The Bears probably had similiar grades on them and knew a first was too high for Woods.

Ive noticed a lot of guys I like and target always end up going much higher. Gonna take that with me when I get into next the draft around Feb

I agree. Van den Berg needs some good hard coaching. The fact he improved so much in his last two seasons under the former Falcons Dline coach versus the crap coaches at Penn State should give us hope he’ll continue that trajectory.

It always amazes me how the scouts find these guys you barely hear of and the tape looks so good. Im trying to find one a little longer but some short ones shows this dude relentlessly tackling players. https://youtube.com/shorts/c900oal73EA?si=Cx3jXfxxXF-6yzTM

Watching this 30 play game film makes me very optimistic for what we can get out of VDB. I don't know how good Syracuse's Oline was but I'd also say it simply does not matter because they are still big strong dudes. If Van Den Berg can handle a double team and literally not even move his feet because those two cannot move him off his spot that's a win. Triple team him? Ok he'll just stand here and won't be moved.

Granted NFL Olineman are going to be stronger but IMO it raises the floor considerably for what we can get out of him. Last year Billings was getting moved all over on double teams. At a minimum if that's all we ask him to do we should be better.

Then there are some pass rushes showing his ability to bend around an OG to get to the QB like an edge rusher does against OTs. That's not common. We're not exactly sitting on great depth at DT but I'm more confident now that VDB will show he belongs in the rotation early in the season. His burst and power to get through gaps should make him good at beating wide zone concepts.

If he reaches his ceiling, he's going to be very good.

JVdB is a Grady Jarrett comp. He should be able to learn a lot from Grady this year, and that should help his development a lot too.

If he reaches his ceiling, hes a hell of a steal.