Bear Digest

Austin Booker's Rise Makes Bears Edge Rush Move a Tougher Decision

After a week when Austin Booker had 2 1/2 sacks and the Bears made eight sacks, is it possible GM Ryan Poles might not need to go out after that extra pass rusher after all?

Gene Chamberlain

Austin Booker Bears Rookie Rush Man.mp4
Austin Booker Bears Rookie Rush Man.mp4 /

The longer the Bears have gone with a look at rookie defensive end Austin Booker, the more they've liked what they've seen.

At some point, however, they'll need to make the commitment in the form of a final decision on whether they need to add to their pass rush for the regular season.

A possible option via trade was New England edge rusher Matthew Judon but the Atlanta Falcons acquired him on Wednesday in a trade. For a third-round pick, the Falcons have acquired a 32-year-old player who averaged more than eight sacks a season. Judon had four sacks last year, tying a career low.

Another veteran reportedly hoping to get out of his situation is Jets 30-year-old edge rusher Haason Reddick, who has 58 sacks in seven seasons but double figures in the last four years. The Jets are not looking to trade Reddick, a holdout who they just acquired for this season  with a third-round pick.

Out there still is former Bears edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue. And then there is always the possibility edge rush help can become available via waivers during final roster cutdowns Aug. 27, but they no longer have the favorable first waiver wire position they had at the start of last year so it's not as easy to come up with these players.

However, if they have Maxx Crosby, why would they need any of those players?

That's who rookie Austin Booker's playing style is said to resemble, although they're very generous comparisons considering Booker was a fifth-round pick.

With 2 1/2 sacks last week against Buffalo, Booker made himself known to the NFL. Teammate Daniel Hardy also had 2 1/2 sacks as the Bears had eight sacks overall in their 33-6 win over the Bills.

"I came in since Day 1 and just tried to get better, and tried to stay on the field and get those one reps, run with the ones and just be the best pass rusher," Booker said. "I feel like I've showed that but at the same I'm still going to be working, I'm still going to be getting better and I'm still going to take that rookie role, whatever that is."

The fact he is being compared to Crosby hits home with Booker because the Raiders edge is a player he has looked up to for a while and has even been able to meet him at last month's "convention" for pass rushers, a league-wide trend all positions seem to be having these days.

"I mean it's great, he's a great player," Booker said. "Talked to him a bunch. Went to the pass rush retreat in Vegas. It's great, he's a great player and works his ass off.

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"It's great to be compared to someone like that. But at the same time, I'm my own player and I have my own feel and hopefully I can make my own legacy like him."

Booker noticed everything about Crosby's approach and it made an impact.

"Like everything he does, it's full intent of getting better," Booker said. "When we were doing the walk-throughs and the warmups at the (Vegas) camp, he was fully locked in on his stretching out and things like that. Just seeing how he moves and takes care of business."

Booker already has some things going for him without emulating anyone.

"He's only played that position for a little bit of time, so he's just learning as he goes," coach Matt Eberflus said. "He's like a big sponge there. But what he has is great effort. He has a great motor. So that's a great starting point to have. And he has good slip. He's got that natural ability to slip and move around the corner, be able to take the inside charge if you give him.

"He doesn't do anything pre-determined, which is great. He's an instinctual rusher. He goes and then he reacts to what he sees. I think that's hard to defend."

This last quality truly is natural, Booker said.

"No, 100% I've always been like that," he said. "I don't have a set move I'm about to hit or anything like that.

"The only thing I will set is either going harder inside or going harder outside. Because if I'm going harder inside I'll probably spin out, or spin out work back in, or something. Or I go hard upfield then I go inside. That's the only thing that I predetermine. Everything else is reaction."

He does have a strength, though.

"I feel like I have every move in my bag," he said "I can definitely get better at those for sure.

"But long-arm is my fastball and then I just work off that, whether that's spin, whether that's arm move, everything else just goes, it just happens. Reaction."

Since coming to the Bears, he feels he's honed some skills.

"I would say my get off and my set up, knowing my assignment," he said. "Those few things have been coming together pretty well. Once you get into the swing of the game, it just moves so much smoother. Less thinking and more work."

It's not like Booker has made it to this point without help. His father was a defensive tackle.

"My dad being in my back pocket the whole time, he played defensive tackle, so he taught me a lot," Booker said. "So I just had that natural, torquing, pushing, pulling since I was younger."

In two preseason games, Booker has come at his rush from two-point and three-point stances. It's versatility he says he has built into his game, even though he started only one season of college football for Kansas after transferring from Minnesota.

"I stand up a lot just because we had a lot of chippers last week, so it was easier for me to get off the chippers," he said of the extra blockers. "But also, if we have a train where I’m taking the running back (in coverage) if he flares out, that's easier for me to stand up and go get that.

"So yeah, just random mixing it in and also I feel like if you're standing up wider out, then they're more eager to get out to you, so that's when you can set up that inside move a little bit more too. That goes hand-in-hand with the width that I am away from the tackles."

Now Booker's goal is to finish the last two games strong and by making certain the Bears have faith he can have similar success in the regular season against first-team blockers in a pass rush rotation.

"I feel like I’ve done that for the past two games, so just continue to get better and keep putting that on film," Booker said.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.