Ryan Poles just confirmed what Bears fans have known about Austin Booker

Before the NFL trade deadline, every Chicago Bears fan was screaming for the team to make a trade for a defensive end. Then, Austin Booker happened.

In Booker's first game back during the Bears' Week 9 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, he had a great game with one sack and a forced fumble to help them pick up a massive 47-42 thrilling win. At the trade deadline, the Bears still got a defensive end, but decided to go get Cleveland Browns edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

This wasn't the home run hitter Bears fans wanted at the trade deadline, but it was one that the Bears felt would help with depth after Dayo Odeyingbo's Achilles injury. Bears general manager Ryan Poles told the media that Booker's play was the most significant influence in his decision after weeks of making calls on defensive ends.

"All I can say is we made calls across the league and I check up on all of the guys you would imagine just to see the availability. You get different answers. Sometimes they change if you start three weeks prior as you get closer things come up and down based on how teams are doing and how they feel about the player. Sometimes they go to the player and ask him, how do they see the future and go from there. We turned pretty much every stone to find those answers and then, yeah, the timing worked out where we got the extra week to see Book get going again and I think it reminded us back to the momentum he had going in preseason. You saw those flashes and we expect those to continue to come."

Is Booker ready to step up to the plate?

Everyone was overly impressed with Booker's play in the preseason, as he had four sacks in two games before his injury. Bears fans were hoping that after Odeyingbo's underwhelming season with Chicago, Booker could be the guy, and so far, it looks good.

Bears' other edge rusher, Montez Sweat, is having a great run in the last three games, with sacks in each game, and showing himself to be the dominant player Chicago paid $98 million to. As for the $48 million the team spent on Odeyingbo, one sack later and he has been labeled as a massive bust so far.

While Tryon-Shoyinka's role has not been defined yet, he's expected to be more of a rotational player on the defensive line. Booker is poised to step into the starting lineup with Sweat as the top pass rusher.

Chicago has a lot of faith in Booker, as this is his chance to prove to the city he can be the guy they saw in the preseason.