• Booker put his skill set on display this preseason: As the Bears' only defensive draft pick in 2024, Booker flashed his pass-rushing potential and earned a 79.7 PFF overall grade this preseason.
• ‘No face, no numbers’: Booker isn't worried about those drafted before him. He is simply ready to dominate those in front of him.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
The Chicago Bears aimed to quickly overhaul their offense by drafting quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze in the top 10 of the 2024 NFL Draft. And the former Pac-12 sensations turned some heads this preseason.
The team didn't address the defense until its fifth-round pick, likely looking for depth. But rookie edge rusher Austin Booker was nearly as impressive as Odunze and Williams this preseason despite being the 144th overall player off the board. Being drafted in the fifth round is early fuel for the relentless pass-rusher.
“I got picked behind a bunch of dudes that I know I'm better than,” Booker told PFF in an exclusive interview, adding that his draft drop “100 percent” serves as motivation.
Booker was the 12th defensive lineman off the board in April. But unlike star Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, he has no interest in wasting his energy on trivial recall of the names said before his.
“No face, no numbers,” Booker said. “I don't care. I line up and just play.”
The 21-year-old has done just that in the early going of his NFL career. In four preseason matchups against the Texans, Bills, Bengals and Chiefs, Booker flashed power, bend and finesse. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound edge rusher collected nine pressures and 2.5 sacks across only 94 total snaps. His 79.7 PFF overall grade ranked fifth among all defensive rookies to play 90 or more snaps, and his 19% pass-rush win rate ranked sixth among first-year qualifiers.
Highest-Graded Rookie Edge Defenders | 2024 NFL Preseason
Maybe most impressive is that Booker looked at ease despite having only 505 career collegiate snaps under his belt, with 482 coming in his lone season as a starter at Kansas. The edge rusher called gaining a large volume of snaps a “big focus” this summer but hasn’t been fazed by higher levels of competition.
“Not a huge difference,” Booker said about college camp versus the pros. “Just the speed increase, that’s about it. Doing the same moves. Same stuff’s working.”
At the same time, facing standouts like veteran Buffalo tackle Dion Dawkins has allowed Booker to make subtle yet key tweaks.
“They just have faster, stronger hands, so you got to work hands more than just [one] move sometimes,” Booker said. “That's kind of the biggest thing I've changed.”
What also helps any burgeoning young edge rusher is playing alongside a proven star. Booker has already tapped into a reservoir of knowledge in Pro Bowler Montez Sweat, who amassed 37 pressures and six sacks in only nine games after getting traded to Chicago last season.
“Just not thinking,” said Booker when asked what Sweat has ingrained. “Part of that is knowing your assignment and knowing what you’ve got to do. Just going out there, playing full speed.”
Practices against Chicago’s high-flying offense — with Williams, Keenan Allen, D.J. Moore, Odunze and D’Andre Swift — are almost always at a relentless pace for the Bears’ defenders, offering little room for error. Booker believes he’s already grown by opposing Williams on a nearly daily basis.
Austin Booker | 2024 NFL Preseason Grades
“Be ready for them to throw it at any time,” Booker said. “I was super close to getting a sack, and he got it out because he’s a great player. Getting them hands up, even if you can’t get to the quarterback.”
On top of having a hyper-fast release, Williams is known to dance around the pocket, sometimes turning seconds of holding onto the ball into a scramble. Booker — who experienced a similar mobile threat with Kansas’ Jalon Daniels — has tuned his ears to a more improvisational style of quarterbacking, prioritizing his rush lane discipline.
“That's a big thing that we've been talking about in the D-line room,” Booker said. “Just knowing that when you're to the nose guard and not that 3-tech, you have a bigger B-gap. You need to not rush as deep and counter sooner. So just little things like that, been working on.”
Given his rawness, it wasn’t a major surprise to see Booker listed as the Bears’ third-string edge rusher, behind names like Khalid Kareem, Dominique Robinson, DeMarcus Walker and Jacob Martin. However, Booker isn’t overly concerned about his formal listing.
“I just don’t focus on that, honestly,” Booker said. “I feel like I’ve shown what I need to. I’m going to keep doing that. Wherever I end up is wherever I end up.”
With his final opportunity to solidify his roster spot and ranking already in the rearview mirror, Booker has homed in on any way to improve. He mentioned wanting to display more “tedious moves” with his hands, including implementing a stab club.
The Bears’ pursuit of a bona fide No. 2 edge rusher next to Sweat still appears unsettled, even after general manager Ryan Poles acquired the unproven Darrell Taylor from the Seattle Seahawks. But Poles may have stumbled on an unexpected dose of pass-rushing juice, courtesy of his final 2024 draft pick.
“They’re going to slide to his [Sweat’s] side,” Booker said. “Having an unknown guy on the other side, that’ll help out, I think.”
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