Through his first two NFL seasons, potential has not quite matched production for Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker. Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, he was about as raw as can be, with just 505 defensive snaps in college, and as a rookie, a doomed Bears' coaching staff basically refused to play him (283 defensive snaps).
Booker announced himself as a potential factor in the 2025 preseason opener, with three sacks against the Miami Dolphins. Then a knee injury in the second preseason game landed him on IR to start the season, and he did not make his season debut until Week 9.
Booker had a sack in his season debut, on his way to 4.5 sacks in the 10 regular season games he played. In those 10 games, he played 80 percent of the Bears' defensive snaps. In need of reps above all else, he got them once he was able to play in his second season.
Appearing on 670 The Score's "Mully and Haugh" on Monday, former Bears center Olin Kreutz mentioned Booker when he talked about how the Bears can be elevated next season sheerly by current players taking steps in their career growth.
"Austin Booker, can he become the pass rusher that we're talking about?", Kreutz said..."He got a ton of reps this year, can he study his film and say 'man I gotta play the run. and on third down I gotta win and get to the quarterback'."
Austin Booker could be a big part of the answer to Bears' pass rush problem
Via injuries and underachievement, the Bears' pass rush was Montez Sweat and not much else this season. Be it an edge rusher or a defensive tackle, the team's first-round pick in April currently looks very likely to be a defensive lineman.
Despite playing a little more than half the season, Booker was third on the Bears with those 4.5 sacks, and he was the only edge rusher besides Sweat who had more than 1.5 sacks.
Kevin Patra of NFL.com has named one overlooked/surprise contributor from each NFC team this season, and he chose Booker for the Bears.
"Had he played a full season, Booker would have surely garnered more of the spotlight. Thanks to a knee injury, he didn't make his 2025 debut until Week 9 -- but even so, Booker finished third on the Bears' D in both sacks (4.5) and QB pressures (30), generating a 9.9% QB pressure rate over the final 10 regular-season games. In the first seven weeks of the Bears' season, Chicago generated a 28.7% QB pressure rate (27th in the NFL) with 9.1 pressures per game (31st). After Booker entered the lineup, those numbers went to 33.2 % (21st) and 12.5 pressures per game (14th). I'm not suggesting Booker gave the Bears a monster pass rush, but his presence undoubtedly got them closer to respectability. The second-year pro is still rough around the edges, and Chicago must add more QB-chasing oomph, but Booker is on the same trajectory as his upward-trending team."
Booker's season debut came in the midst of a four-game sack streak for Sweat. But from Booker's first game on, Sweat had seven of his 10 sacks and 12 of his 18 quarterback hits for the season. So having a legit threat on the opposite edge impacted Sweat on an individual level, and the Bears' pass rush went from bad to respectable when Booker played.
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As is consistently proven by the most successful defenses, there's no such thing as having too much defensive line talent. As the Bears look to bolster their situation this offseason, Booker definitely has a place as part of the solution next season and beyond.