It is no secret that the Chicago Bears could have some depth issues on the defensive line. I am still curious to see if Ryan Poles brings in additional help for the unit. There aren't many big names out there outside of Yannick Ngakoue and Carl Lawson. Shaq Lawson is another name floating around because of his connection in Buffalo to the Bears new defensive coordinator Eric Washington.
As of now, there haven't been any actual rumors about the Bears being interested in adding help on the defensive line. Most of the rumors are coming from bloggers and media outlets. Is Poles content with the defensive line right now? They have a stud in Montez Sweat and Andrew Billings is one of the best nose tackles in the game. Gervon Dexter looks to have taken a step forward after his strong finish to the 2023 season. Outside of those three names, I'm not confident anyone else.
Austin Booker did not have the best preseason debut for the Bears
Zacch Pickens hasn't shown me nearly enough. I'm fearful he never lives up to his third-round expectations. DeMarcus Walker is a seasoned veteran but his ceiling is very limited. The team has a few other guys not worth mentioning, but many are hopeful rookie defensive end Austin Booker can bring some additional pass rush to the unit. Unfortunately, he came out extraordinarily flat vs the Texans.
Ryan Poles traded back into the 2024 NFL Draft to select Austin Booker in the fifth round. He is a bit of a developmental player, but he was seen as a pass-rush specialist. You can read my initial reaction to the pick here. Interestingly, I felt that he had a great burst off the ball when watching his film at Kansas.
Booker had nine sacks for the Jayhawks last year and I thought he could be a true pass-rush specialist for the Chicago Bears this season. He still can. He needs to bulk up a little and struggles against the run. But I thought he'd look great coming in on passing-down situations. Think of a Mark Anderson type. Unfortunately, I didn't see that same explosion vs the Texans in the Hall of Fame game.
Booker had 22 snaps in the game and played with the starting unit. However, the starting unit was really the third-string unit since none of the starters and even many of the main backups did not play. Remember, the Hall of Fame game was an extra preseason game for the Bears and Texans so that was expected. Out of those 22 snaps, 15 were against passing plays. What stood out to me was his slow burst off the line of scrimmage on most plays. It stood out so much that I noted it because I wasn't expecting it.
That said, he did have a decent amount of inside stunts and was even put into coverage on one play. Some thought he got a strip sack based on the television angle, but the All-22 film showed that defensive tackle Byron Cowart was the one who caused the sack fumble. Austin Booker finished with one tackle and he had two plays (the Cowart one and one other) that I saw flashes. His other pass-rush skills showed up plenty. He showed more pass-rush moves than I expected. However, his burst needs to improve on game days.
The good news is that I'm not overly concerned at this point. He showed me enough in college that he can get off the ball. I am still hopeful that by the time the season ends, we will see Booker having a finish similar to Gervon Dexter -- another defensive lineman who was said to have a slow get-off during his rookie year. Not to mention, Booker has seen plenty of praise out of training camp. Even Montez Sweat has made note of Booker making me think this is mostly rookie nerves and a little rust getting used to game action.