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Austin Booker

Chicago Bears
Pos EDGE
Updated August 24, 2026

Model Score

69.6 MODEL
2024
66.7
2025
69.6

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

Season Stats · 10 games

5.543rd
Sacks
2052nd
Pressures
471st
QB Hits
569th
TFL
4437th
Tackles
130th
FF

Draft & College

Round 5, pick 144 · Chicago Bears · 2024
Kansas (Big 12)
Taken
#144
where he actually went
Consensus board
85th
average of the public big boards that spring
Our college model
#518
among EDGE in our college data

He lasted longer than consensus.

In college · 2023 · 12 games
8.0 sacks, 12 TFL, 8 pressures, 55 tackles

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

Comps

Overall match
size, testing and production, same career stage
Plays like
on-field production only

STM Take

Tier 8 (#113) rookie to tier 8 (#63) sophomore is a 50-spot one-year jump for a 5th-round pick but still inside the tier 8 floor. The Minnesota-to-Kansas Big Ten/Big 12 pedigree plus the rotational pass-rush reps gives him basic developmental foundation. The 2026 question is whether Booker crosses into tier 6-7 territory or whether the structural tier 8 ceiling caps at rotational depth.

Booker came out of Kansas as the Chicago Bears' 5th-round pick (144th overall) in 2024 after transferring from Minnesota and earning All-Big-12 honors. The Bears used him in a rotational pass-rush role across his first two seasons. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#113) rookie to tier 8 (#63) sophomore, a 50-spot year-over-year jump that's still inside the tier 8 floor.

Strengths

  • 50-spot year-over-year improvement from tier 8 (#113) rookie to tier 8 (#63) sophomore shows real developmental trajectory.
  • Kansas Big 12 plus Minnesota Big Ten pedigree gives him real college foundation for a Day 3 pick.

Concerns

  • Two straight tier 8 finishes caps the realistic 2026 ceiling at rotational depth or low-end starter.
  • Chicago's broader defensive identity transition (multiple new coordinators) compresses the structural support around Booker's development.

What to watch: Whether Booker crosses into tier 6 (top 50) in 2026, the threshold for confirming the developmental trajectory continues.

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