Do the Bears have their pass rush group set already? A couple of lesser heralded defensive ends have already started turning some heads.
In the early days of camp, both Jacob Martin and Austin Booker have flashed repeatedly as they bear down on quarterbacks from the edge.
Before we get too far, it needs to be noted that the Bears haven’t put on the pads yet. That gives pass rushers an advantage in team drills since offensive linemen don’t have much to work with in pass pro. Without pads, there’s not a ton of space for o-linemen to engage d-linemen with their hands, so the pass rushers should be winning more often than not. If they weren’t it would probably be a bigger story.
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But the pass rushers are winning with more than just power or hand techniques. Both Martin and Booker have run past their would-be blockers with speed, and that would probably look the same even if the team was in pads.
Let’s start with Martin, who has received significant playing time behind Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker as the team's third DE. When the team signed Martin to a free agent deal this offseason, the expectation was he would play a handful of snaps a game with more contributions on special teams. In an admittedly small sample size, it looks like he could have the makings of a No. 3 rusher if called upon.
“Great speed,” said defensive coordinator Eric Washington. “Great speed and quickness. Very athletic. He’s an excellent space player. But he’s really sturdy at the point of attack. Those types of things you really need to have.”
Put it all together and Washington says Martin is a player who the Bears anticipate contributing as a three-down player. That means they won’t only trust him on pass rush downs. If a starter needs a breather, Martin can play a full series.
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“As a right defensive end, he’s doing a nice job,” Washington said.
Then there’s Booker. GM Ryan Poles traded back into the fifth round of this year’s draft to acquire Booker, but scouts viewed him as more of a project player. Booker has a high ceiling to develop into a major impact pass rusher, but the thought was that the major impact wouldn’t come until 2025 or so. Until then, Booker would probably be pressed into duty on specific third-down packages. That still may end up being the case, but the Bears won’t put a ceiling on Booker’s development this year and so far he’s been up to the challenge.
“I saw a lot of things that I’m really excited about,” said Washington. “His hand usage. His ability to counter. And with a pass rusher, especially a young player, it’s just a mindset. He’s competing out there and he’s competing to win.”
The Bears have had Booker play with the first team at times this training camp, but it's largely due to the team's decision to rotate players as they ramp up the intensity of practice. The team does want Booker to experience how things operate with the 1s, however, and they want Booker to get a feel for working alongside the starters.
“Just trying to make sure that we give him exposure but at the same time we continue to build him and move him at a pace that we think is reasonable for his long-term development.”
From the end of the draft to the start of training camp, there was a lot of talk suggesting the Bears needed another pass rusher to complement Sweat. Depth was called into question and the expectation was the team would add one more piece at some point before Week 1. Once the team gets into pads and truly evaluates the position group, they still might. But if players like Martin and Booker can continue to impress as the calendar turns from July to August, there might be less pressure to add another DE.