2. Austin Booker exploded with production in his last year of college
One of the reasons Booker could not play much at all for the first two years of his career outside of high school and yet still jump into the NFL after 2023 was his explosion in production. He went from two pressures in two years to 38 pressures in 2024.
Booker was a part-time and had 38 pressures on 237 pass-rush snaps. He had a pass rush productivity rating of 10.3, per PFF. For comparison, first-round picks Jared Verse was at 11.7, Laitu Latu was at 13.3, and Dallas Turner was at 12. He was not quite where they were, but his production was quality in comparison when you think of him as a fourth-round pick.
Meanwhile, Booker also had 34 run stops and a run stop rate of 10.2. Latu is at 6.9, Robinson is 5.9, and Turner is 4.2. Booker was much better against the run, although it was in a smaller sample.
Still, only Marshawn Kneeland and Adisa Isaac had a better run-stop rate. So, we are talking about a quality player in both areas. It is fair to question whether he can do it over a longer sample and if he can handle more snaps, but when he does play, it could be impactful.