DeMarcus Walker's impact has been one of the biggest 2024 surprises for Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears pass rush is much better this season than it was last season. This can be due to a combination of things. First, they added Darrell Taylor and Austin Booker and both are upgrades from last year's roster. Gervon Dexter took an expected step in year two, but the most surprising improvement has been DeMarcus Walker. 

Walker was expected to be the rotational player who can make plays up and down the line. However, he has turned into a legitimate player who plays nearly every down for the team. When Chicago signed him, his career-high in snaps was 426, and the highest rate of snaps in a season he played was 51.6%. Last year, he played 66.6% of the Bears defensive snaps and 713 overall. 

The Chicago Bears are getting the best of DeMarcus Walker

This year he is up to 80% of the defensive snaps. At this pace, he will set his career high in snaps by Week 15. Despite playing more than ever, he has been better than ever. 

Walker has a 16.8% pass rush win rate this year. It is not quite leading to sacks, as he has 1.5, but you can see that he is forcing passers out of the pocket, or to throw early. Last year, his win rate was 10.8%. That is a significant jump, especially considering he is getting a heavier workload. 

More than that, he was signed because he was a solid run defender. Last year he had a 6.2% run stop rate and an 8% missed tackle rate. That is up to 8.3% in his stop rate and 5.9% for his missed tackle rate. He is making more plays, and missing fewer plays. 

A lot of the other impacts and additions were anticipated, but the Bears' pass rush and edge rusher room remained a question because no one saw Walker being this impactful. Through seven games, he has been a true revelation and one that has changed the ceiling of what this defense can do.