Bears DE Austin Booker will ‘get better in the shadows’ during rookie season

Austin Booker believes the NFL is sleeping on him, and he’s fine with that. The Bears rookie defensive end flew under the radar when he transferred to Kansas last year, and he’s flying under the radar now.

“I’m going to continue to get better in the shadows, and they’re not going to know what’s coming,” Booker said.

For Booker, a 21-year-old who rarely even started on his college team, the preseason is going to be a proving ground.

The Bears drafted Booker with a fifth-round pick in April. General manager Ryan Poles was out of draft picks by the time the fifth round rolled around, so he sent a 2025 fourth-round pick to Buffalo in exchange for the No. 144 overall pick — which he used on Booker.

Booker is not expected to start and might not even necessarily play a huge role on the 2024 Bears. He had 8 sacks and 12 tackles for loss last season at Kansas, despite not being in the starting lineup. He was the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Minnesota, where he appeared in only six games over two seasons.

But the general consensus seems to be that he is raw. On the Bears’ first depth chart, they list him as a third-string defensive end. Montez Sweat, DeMarcus Walker, Dominique Robinson and Jacob Martin are all listed ahead of him.

Booker’s OK with lurking behind his teammates.

“I feel like I still can compete at this level,” Booker said. “I’m at the same level as all the other guys or better. Just getting in and showing I belong and showing I can dominate at the highest level is a big thing.

“I think I’ve shown that at this camp.”

The Bears are likely to be cautious with their starters throughout the preseason. Unproven rookies like Booker are going to have a chance to show what they can do in the preseason games.

Defensive coordinator Eric Washington wants to see Booker near the opposing QB.

“I want to see him hit the quarterback, period,” Washington said. “I want to see him hit the quarterback, I want to see him use his speed and everything that he’s been working on that’s been poured into him so far, the investment that he’s made. I want to see him put himself in position to hit the quarterback and take the ball away from him.”

Booker is a lengthy edge rusher. He measures in at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds. The Bears like long edge rushers, like Sweat, who is also 6-6. Sweat is about 15 pounds heavier than Booker.

The long-term goal is likely for Booker to put on more muscle. But in the short term that wasn’t likely to happen between draft day and Week 1.

“I lost four pounds of body fat over the break,” Booker said. “So I’m feeling great, running around fast and just trying to maintain or grow my size during the season just a little bit. But with long practices and long days, there’s not much you can do losing 2,500 calories a practice.”

Any true weight gain will probably have to come over next off-season when the Bears can put a proper plan in place for Booker.

For now, he’s just going to use that raw athleticism and length to try to make something happen.

“He has a great feel for how to contort his body, how to flip or rotate his hips and shoulders so that he can keep advancing toward the quarterback and put himself in great position to follow through,” Washington said.