The Chicago Bears need help with their pass rush and they didn’t address with any of the four picks that they had scheduled coming into the 2024 NFL Draft. Because of this, Ryan Poles took a risk and traded into the fifth round to select Kansas edge rusher Austin Booker.
The Bears traded a 2025 fourth-rounder to the Buffalo Bills for their original No. 144 pick (traded to Buffalo for Ryan Bates), which tells you Poles must’ve thought highly of Booker.
Kansas isn’t exactly a football powerhouse, but they are very capable of producing good NFL talent from time to time. The Bears are hoping that this is something that happened with Booker, who has a limited sample size but extremely high ceiling.
It’s unclear how much playing time he’ll have as a rookie, but Booker will have a star like Montez Sweat to look up to as he begins his NFL career. Having Sweat and defensive coordinator Eric Washington should be great for Booker as he develops.
These highlights from Kansas show exactly what Booker has been able to do in his career:
