Chicago Bears rookie defensive end Austin Booker may be the next Mark Anderson if he can continue to practice at the level he has been since OTAs.
Rookie defensive end Austin Booker is an exceptionally raw but extremely talented defensive end. Booker did not play a lot of college football and is just starting to get comfortable with the game of football. That being said he has exceptional tools that could lead to early success in his Bears career.
“There’s a lot of positives. I saw a lot of things I’m excited about. His hand usage, his ability to counter.” – #Bears DC Eric Washington on rookie Austin Booker.
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) July 23, 2024
Eric Washington is the new defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, and formerly is a defensive line coach. So when it comes to knowing the players on the defensive line, it’s his specialty. Austin Booker making headlines this early in training camp is a promising development because he has natural gifts you can’t coach. At the NFL combine Austin Booker measured a stout 6-foot-4 1/2 with a 33- and 7/8-inch arm length which is exceptional for a defensive end. He also clocked a solid 4.78 40-yard dash, which may not be elite for a defensive end, but it is a solid time for his position.
Add to it, on tape you can see the natural strength and frame and body to develop into a more physically imposing player that Austin Booker has. It may sound silly, but some players are just gifted with a different body type that more easily carries and develops muscle mass. Austin Booker is that type of raw strength athlete.
The exciting thing however are the reports of his hand usage and counter moves which he seems to be developing early on. This is not to say that Booker will come in and be an immediate starter and supplant a veteran, but he could definitely fit in as a pass rushing specialist and earn snaps the same Mark Anderson did as a rookie fifth round pick in 2006.
Anderson came in behind established veterans Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown and racked up 12 sacks as a rookie. That contribution helped the overall success of the 2006 Chicago Bears defense and helped lead them to the Super Bowl.
Now there’s absolutely no way of telling if Booker will be THAT GOOD, and there will a lot more exposed about him once the pads come on, on Friday. But the key will be Booker carving himself out a role similar to what Anderson had, not necessarily matching the production of Anderson.
Austin Booker has already been rotating in with the first team on defense showing early ability according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Washington added more to it about the Bears will know more about Booker after a few padded practices:
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“The first day (in pads) won’t make or break that,” Washington said. “It’s been a long time since this group has played tackle football. But after the first two or three practices, I’ll have a pretty good sense of where the group is. And also, we can identify where need to kind of grow and who needs what specific work and what we need to focus and hone on in terms of trying to develop the depth.
“So, I’m not making any absolute statements after the first two or three days, but what we want to do is just make sure we know what we need to do as a staff to develop the depth that we believe we have. If they’re here, there’s a reason why they’re here.”
Biggs then added some personal opinion on what he’s seen early on from Booker as well:
“Austin Booker was rotated through with the first team a little on Tuesday as well, and the speed and ability to turn the corner is evident. He lacks some stoutness at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, but you can find a role for a twitched-up edge rusher with a quick first step in this scheme, especially on passing downs.”
Sometimes if a guy has one gear and that gear is speed he can easily translate speed to power which in turn opens up a lot of options for the young defensive end.
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