The 2026 NFL Draft is done. The Chicago Bears made seven picks. Not one of them was a defensive end.
And when you look at the full offseason picture from free agency, the draft, and the quotes from Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson afterward, one thing becomes impossible to ignore: The Bears are betting everything that Austin Booker is the solution to their pass rush problem.
What they’re seeing
GettyBears DE Austin Booker
After a draft that came and went without a single edge rusher, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles didn’t hide from the questions. “At the defensive line position, Booker’s coming along with Dayo, Sweat, Shemar,” he said. “We feel good about those guys…we feel like there is some developmental upside, and like I said, with Year 2 in the system, we should be able to take the next step.”
Ben Johnson echoed him. “I think you saw tremendous growth from Booker when we were finally able to get him back,” he said. “The combination of us being able to coach better and those guys taking the next step as part of this system, I think we have some pretty good pieces to work with.”
When Austin Booker finally returned from his preseason knee injury in Week 9, he picked up right where he left off.
In just nine regular season games, he finished with 45 total pressures and 4.5 sacks. That was good for third on the team in sacks behind Montez Sweat and Gervon Dexter… And he did it in just half a season.
Then came the playoffs. Five pressures and a sack against Green Bay in the Wild Card. An 81.4 run defense grade against the Rams in the Divisional Round. Of his 35 total pressures on the year, 26 came after the Week 14 Packers game.
Booker is an incredible player when he’s on the field. The only problem? He’s not on the field very much due to health. He had four sacks in the 2025 preseason before the knee cut his season in half.
Now Austin Booker is putting in the work. He’s been training with Aaron W. Reed this offseason, the actor who played the Juggernaut in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Who else is there?
GettyBears DE Austin Booker
The Chicago Bears looked into Maxx Crosby before he went back to the Raiders. They had interest in Dexter Lawrence before the Giants shipped him to Cincinnati. Edge rushers came off the board one by one throughout the draft. Chicago watched every single one of them go and didn’t flinch.
Poles called his approach “disciplined” and his closing line after the draft was simple: “If we can improve our football team, we’ll do it.” That’s a front office that already likes what it has.
Montez Sweat is the anchor, but he can’t carry this pass rush alone. Dayo Odeyingbo is recovering from a torn Achilles (his second). And Shemar Turner had 74 snaps before a torn ACL ended his rookie year.
Because of that, Booker’s path to the starting role couldn’t be cleaner. He has no veteran blocking his snaps and no high draft pick pushing him down the depth chart.
The secondary is set after drafting Dillon Thieneman and trading up for Malik Muhammad. The offensive line is deepening. The skill positions are loaded.
The pass rush is the last unresolved question on this roster. The Chicago Bears just decided Austin Booker is their answer. Now he has to be.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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