Every draft cycle has a surprise story — a player who slipped through the cracks, defied expectations, and made evaluators question what they missed. In 2026, that story belongs to Jordan van den Berg, a name most draft rooms weren’t tracking until very recently.

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, van den Berg’s path to the NFL reads like a screenplay nobody would greenlight: zero recruiting stars as a high school linebacker, a walk-on spot at Iowa Western Community College, a 40-pound position transition to defensive lineman, and a first-team JUCO All-American honor that finally put him on the map at Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets didn’t just land a prospect. They landed a convert — someone who plays with the frantic urgency of a man who knows precisely how close he came to never playing the game at all.

His combine snub, apparently the result of scouts dismissing a limited track record of dominant production, was answered loudly at Georgia Tech’s pro day. When the stopwatch and tape measure came out, van den Berg didn’t just perform well. He delivered one of the most stunning athletic showings of the entire pre-draft cycle.

He ran a 4.94-second 40-yard dash at 310 pounds. He posted 35 reps on the bench press. He ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.19 seconds — a mark that would have beaten every defensive tackle at the Combine by nearly half a second

His Relative Athletic Score is a perfect 10.00, the absolute maximum, and ranks second among all defensive tackles in the history of the modern data era.

What makes van den Berg genuinely dangerous, though, is that he isn’t merely a workout warrior. His 2025 Georgia Tech tape and shows a player whose physical gifts show up exactly where they’re supposed to as an interior defensive line.

He led all Power 4 defensive tackles in tackles for loss, ranked fifth nationally among DTs in pressure rate at 9.9 percent, and earned first-team All-ACC honors.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key offered the simplest possible scouting report: “Just turn on the tape.”

Van den Berg’s most notable pass-rush asset is his combination of size and straight-line speed. When he can play north and south as a pass rusher, he can inflict real damage on interior offensive linemen with a speed-to-power bull rush.

His pressure rate of 9.9% ranked fifth among defensive tackles nationally in 2025, a strong figure that reflects his ability to consistently disrupt the pocket even without a polished move set

His speed-to-power bull rush is a legitimate problem for offensive linemen. He generates tremendous momentum out of his stance, and his grip strength allows him to drive guards and centers straight back into the pocket.

The limitations are real and worth mentioning. His pass-rush game acks high-end pass-rush moves and counters, overly relying on his bull rush and power, and his short arms create inherent disadvantages as blockers can get first contact and manipulate his body.

He’s never been much of a sack artist — his three sacks in 2025 were a career high — which means he doesn’t fit the archetype of a juiced-up rotational pass rusher, and he’ll need to develop counters off his bull rush to stay on the field in obvious passing situations at the next level.

His pass-rush toolkit is relatively narrow — he wins through power and explosion rather than a varied menu of counters, and his three sacks were a career high.

His arm length falls short of the positional ideal, which means he’ll need to consistently win the hand-fighting battle to avoid getting locked up by NFL-caliber linemen. He profiles as a one-gap, early-down force — more run-stuffing specialist than every-down three-technique pass rusher.

Van den Berg’s run defense is where he separates himself from the late-round crowd. His PFF run-defense grade of 79.5 ranked 95th among 887 qualified interior defensive linemen in 2025, a top-tier mark that reflects genuine impact against the run.

He’s known for being a very stout run defender, and you can really see the high motor he plays with and the sheer will to force his way through blocks.

His physical profile underpins his effectiveness as a run stopper. Standing at 6’3” and 310 pounds, van den Berg is noted for his strong point-of-attack presence, impressive durability, and ability to handle double teams.

He earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2025, finishing with 11 tackles for loss and emerging as one of the top run-stopping defensive tackles in the nation. His discipline in gap control allows linebackers to flow freely to the ball, which is where his value is clearest.