If you watched the teams that punched their ticket to the conference championship round this season, a few things stood out. They all had quarterbacks who could take over a game - and they all brought serious heat off the edge.
That’s the formula in today’s NFL: pressure the passer, protect your own, and let your playmakers cook. The Chicago Bears?
They’ve got the quarterback box checked. But when it came to consistently getting after the opposing QB, that part of the equation wasn’t always there.
Injuries played a big role in that. The Bears entered the season with high hopes for second-year edge rusher Austin Booker, who flashed serious potential in the preseason.
He was quick, disruptive, and looked like he could be the perfect complement to Montez Sweat on the other side. But just as things were ramping up, Booker went down with a knee injury that sidelined him for two months.
That left a noticeable void in Chicago’s pass rush - especially after Dayo Odeyingbo and rookie Shemar Turner also suffered season-ending injuries. Suddenly, the Bears were scrambling, and they had to make a move, trading for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to try and patch things up.
But when Booker returned? Everything changed.
He didn’t just come back - he came back with impact. So much so that he earned a spot on NFL.com’s list of the unsung heroes of the 2025 season.
And for good reason. Despite missing the first half of the year, Booker still finished third on the team in both sacks (4.5) and quarterback pressures (30).
His pressure rate over the final 10 games? A strong 9.9%, which is the kind of number that turns heads in front offices around the league.
To put that in perspective: before Booker entered the lineup, the Bears were near the bottom of the league in pressure rate (28.7%, 27th in the NFL) and pressures per game (9.1, ranked 31st). Once he was back in the fold, those numbers jumped to 33.2% (21st) and 12.5 pressures per game (14th). That’s not a small bump - that’s a defense finding its teeth again.
And Booker’s just getting started.
Next year marks the third season of his rookie deal - the moment when teams start looking at whether a player is worth locking up long-term. As a fifth-round pick, Booker’s on a four-year contract, so 2026 becomes a pivotal year if he wants to earn that big extension.
The good news? If you take his production over the final six games of 2025 and stretch that over a full 17-game season, you’re looking at a 13-sack campaign.
That’s Pro Bowl-level production. That’s game-changing.
What makes Booker’s emergence even more important is the Bears’ overall philosophy under GM Ryan Poles. He’s been vocal about wanting to retain and develop homegrown talent.
If Booker can stay healthy and keep ascending, he’s not just a nice piece - he’s a foundational one. And while Montez Sweat remains the top dog on the edge for now, the Bears would be wise to keep investing in the position, whether that means drafting another high-upside pass rusher or eventually shifting the balance toward Booker as the long-term solution.
No matter how you slice it, Chicago is in a much better spot than it was just a few months ago. They’ve got a young quarterback to build around, a defense that’s starting to come into its own, and a rising pass rusher in Austin Booker who might just be scratching the surface of what he can become. If 2025 was a glimpse, 2026 could be the breakout.