Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen described how rookie Jordan van den Berg was identified through the team’s scouting process. Defensive line coaches reviewed a 60-play cut-up and asked Allen to watch it. The evaluation shifted from focusing on limitations to emphasizing what van den Berg could do. Allen cited movement skills, power, athleticism, effort, toughness, and football character as standout traits visible on tape. He noted that van den Berg still has areas to improve, but the Bears were excited about his fit for their defensive approach and his potential to develop with their coaching staff.
""He was a player that our scouting staff brought to us. And our defensive line coaches watched the tape and came to me, and they were like: 'Just do me this one favor. Watch this 60-play cut-up on this player.' So when you watch the 60-play cutup, when you're going through the draft process, there's a lot of 'what this guy can't do.' All right, well, we try to focus on what this guy can do. And when you watch that 60-play cut-up of the things that this player can do, it was pretty impressive.""
""The movement skills, the power, the athleticism, the effort, the toughness, all those things. The football character - I keep saying that - the football character bled off the tape to us. And he was a guy that we thought, 'Man, this guy really fits into what we want to do.' And there are certainly a lot of things that he still has to improve on. But there's a skillset there, and there's a football character there that we were excited about working with.""
""Even though the Chicago Bears didn't add a big name to their defensive line this offseason, Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen still has someone he is excited about working with this season.""
Read at Bleacher Nation
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