Bears Pass Rush Solution Could Already Be On The Roster
Austin Booker's late-season surge hints at a homegrown pass rush answer. Can he make the leap and fill the sack void for Chicago?
Video Transcript
Grant Bricker here for Bears on Roundtable.
It was a pretty interesting year for the Chicago defense as they, led the league with thirty-three turnovers, but then they weren't very good at any, really anything else.
They were all inside the top fifteen for the most passing yards, rushing yards, and points allowed per game.
And then there were the troubles in sacking the quarterback, which has plagued this Bears defense for quite some time.
Montez Sweat had a good year finishing with ten sacks, but then, the, the edge rusher the Bears brought in during free agency, Dayo Odeyingbo from the Indianapolis Colts, was not able to play a full season after he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and only finished with one sack before he had his year cut short.
Outside of Odeyingbo and, Sweat, there wasn't a lot of pass rusher depth as Gervon Dexter had five sacks while Austin Booker had four and a half.
As a whole, the, the Bears finished twenty-second in the NFL with thirty-five sacks, so it's clear that a change is definitely, needed, you know, in the pass rush.
General Manager Ryan Poles, will have a decision to make in April as the Bears definitely still need another, starting edge rusher, and they also could use some help on the interior of the defensive line after how many rushing yards they allowed per game last season.
The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs believes that there may already be a solution at, at-- for this Bears pass rush already on the roster in Booker.
Booker, played a full-- was drafted out of Kansas in twenty twenty-four and, played a full season as a rookie, recording one and a half sacks, twenty-one total tackles, and three tackles for loss.
He then had some injury issues in twenty twenty-five and wasn't able to play a full season.
But when he was healthy, his impact on the field was felt.
He got off to a slow start in the sack department, finishing with, one sack from weeks nine to thirteen.
But then in the last, four games, he recorded a combined three and a half sacks.
So definitely showing a lot of promise, and if he's able to play a full season in twenty tw-- in twenty twenty-six, then he, could continue the upward trajectory that he is already on.
Booker is currently projected to be a, a backup edge rusher behind Odeyingbo, but with how, his tenure with the Bears started, he may not be here very long, as he, was not able to play a full season, and even in the games he was able to play, he was not very productive.
Booker continues to improve every season and could very well be the answer to the, the pass rush that this Bears team desperately needs, as they're still searching for somebody to start alongside Montez Sweat.
Now for Poles, he will, his decision isn't gonna get any easier if with a player like Booker on the roster.
He's already stated how deep this edge rusher class is and, could be motivated to take an edge rusher a little bit later because of that, especially now that, Booker continues to improve each season.
Does he take an edge rusher in the first round, or does he wait and maybe take an interior defensive lineman?
There are a lot of decisions to be made, but the Bears have a luxury that not a lot of teams have with a player like Booker on their roster.
Maybe he could be the answer to the pass rush that this team so desperately needs.
