Welcome to the 2026 Chicago Bears Season Preview on Bears By 7, a player-by-player look at the team's roster and their chances.

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Gervon Dexter had the best season of his career rushing the passer and it still wasn’t enough to silence his doubters.

Dexter started all 17 games, posted a career-high six sacks and compiled 38 pressures. His PFF pass rush grade of 72.7 was good enough to rank him 20th out of 134 qualified interior linemen. He also recovered two fumbles.

Unfortunately, there’s another side of the story. Dexter’s run-defense grade from PFF was 44.0, which placed him 107th out of 134 interior linemen. It was a number that showed serious regression from his 2024 season when he posted a 60.3 score.

In fairness, Dexter should have been playing on a deeper unit that added Grady Jarrett in free agency to shore up the run defense. But Jarrett’s injury problems put a lot more on Dexter’s plate throughout the season and he struggled.

Still, if Dexter wants the big contract that he seeks, he has to be a more complete player. Full stop.

Dexter owns the biggest contract year on the roster, and it is not particularly close.