If there's a poster boy for the Chicago Bears' assertion they can coach incumbent players up to bolster what was a lackluster pass rush last season, it is undoubtedly Austin Booker. In 10 games last season, he had 4.5 sacks and 29 quarterback pressure as he was also the only Bears' edge rusher besides Montez Sweat to have more than 1.5 sacks.
As a rookie in 2024, under the overwhelmed Matt Eberflus-led coaching staff, Booker played just 283 defensive snaps despite suiting up for all 17 games. Before that, he was as raw as raw gets with just 505 defensive snaps in his three-year college career (482 in one season).
In that one college season where he was on the field, he had eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss to put himself on the radar of NFL scouts.
Booker played 80 percent of the Bears' defensive snaps in the regular season games he played last season, and it's fair to assume he's in line for a similarly full role this year. The idea of him being healthy for the entire season makes it easy to project a third-year breakthrough, and the coaching staff clearly believes they can get it from him.
Stat perspective on Austin Booker makes for an interesting projection
Jacob Infante of Pro Football Network shared this nugget about Booker, compared to a small selection of more highly-drafted or higher-paid edge rushers.
"DE Austin Booker in 10 games last year had more sacks than:
• Abdul Carter
• Travon Walker
• Jermaine Johnson II
• Boye Mafe
"Both Walker and Mafe are making over $20M a year. The potential for Booker is palpable."
Walker and Mafe both got their big contracts, worth $27.5 million and $20 million per year, respectively, earlier this offseason. To be entirely fair, Walker had back-to-back seasons with 10-plus sacks prior to tallying just 3.5 last season, while Mafe has a nine-sack season on his resume. And, of course, sacks can be random, and they are not the sole indicator of how effective someone is as a pass rusher.
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Still, what Booker did in what amounts to just over half a season has fostered well-founded optimism among people in and out of Halas Hall as they look toward the fall. If he puts it all together and delivers on that optimism, the premium on capable pass rushers would start him on a track to a nice second contract after the 2027 season.
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