hey you guys it's Chicago Bears Austin Booker he has made a close connection with Raider with the Raiders Max Crosby and this is a guy that's inspired a whole generation of pass rushers and if you look at Austin Booker what did the Bears know about Austin Booker before drafting him I mean there wasn't a ton of tape right there's not a lot of tape on Booker he only played around 500 snaps in college but what tape there is shows a guy who has a blend of speed power and technique to work past offensive lineman and more than anything it shows a guy who is does not stop until the play is done pretty much all the same words one would use to describe Max Crosby right Bei besides the physical similarities the length the frame the speed it was his motor that opened eyes to what he could be in the pros and I just want to get on here and kind of draw this parallel and also show how his relationship and his exposure Max Crosby I mean it is it's made a big difference with this kid and we also have a coaching connection that further reinforces this not only similarity but it supports it continuing to grow so you guys stay with me here um I really appreciate you guys and I'm going to open up this story on bearswire decom so we kind of look at this looking at Austin Booker that it kind of think through what brought the first comparisons of ma cross Crosby and what made GM Ryan PS willing to roll the dice on him I mean he traded this year's fourth for the opportunity to move to the fifth round in this last draft and that's via the Buffalo Bills that the Bears just got done dominating I know it's preseason but it's like the similarities with this guy they don't end with the skill set they don't end with the motor both guys were day three draft picks I don't know if you remember but Crosby went to the Raiders in the fourth round in 2019 the bears picked Booker once again in the fifth round of this year's draft Crosby also got his start working with assistant line coach Travis Smith in Oakland and now Smith is now the defensive line coach for the Bears that's really that says a lot as far as like the getting Booker comfortable kind of emulating this guy that uh well he looks up to and he has a relationship now and um let's look at this a little more and uh there's also a Crosby connection of course with this Travis Smith who's on our coaching staff but even this coaching staff seems to be just falling perfectly and this is what Booker had to say the moment he was drafted he was excited to play in Chicago due to coach Smith just knowing he was at Oakland five years ago and took that chance on Max Crosby that really excites me and interest me and this is said moments after the Bears drafted Austin Booker I know all these in good hands moving forward I'm going to close this down you guys check out that profile so kind of looking how Booker is doing he has six tackles two tackles for a loss two and a half sacks and it kind of looked like especially if you watched hard KN it looks like looked like he should have had another half of a sack against the Texans but Booker he wasn't given credit for it and this is kind of hearing from Booker Byron cower came in and hit the ball out before the quarterback went down so it was just a quarterback hit so it's not that big a deal but he he could have had three so it's worth noting though let's chill out a little bit Booker played a lot against second and third stringers so far in the preseason it's a little too early for Crosby comps on the field but there's just there's just examples he made such a high effort play he made a stop after a long Pursuit and broadcaster Jim Miller Jim Miller you guys know him an old friend of ours um he was a good quarterback for us for a minute um Jim Miller he put it out there Booker looks just like a poor man's Max Crosby we're heard the same thing again in the second episode of Hard Knox Booker talking about Max he's a great player and works his off it's great to be compared to something someone like that so Booker developed a relationship with him he he worked with Crosby at a pass rusher Summit in Vegas he's facetimed with him a few times and he's taken advantage of the opportunity to pick Crosby's brain and when when he's ass he says the number one thing he's learned is how Crosby prepares I mean Max Crosby love this guy one of the best players in the NFL we're looking at a Relentless motor a work ethic this a work ethic that might set him apart on the field um those traits all those things have inspired really a new wave of pass rushers and Austin Booker is a big deal Austin Booker is one of those guys and you look at um Austin Booker he is coming to the NFL with tools that are really rare for a guy with that kind of experience and Crosby Crosby has all the traits and tools and Edge rusher needs for success and let's talk about his work ethic I mean it is unrival and we're looking at two um Booker spent this summer training super hard for his rookie season and that included working with Crosby himself when he attended the sack Summit in Las Vegas he tried to absorb as much knowledge once again from the all pro pass rushers he could and Alex Shapiro of NBC Sports Chicago he interviewed uh Austin Booker and talked about some of the biggest takeaways Booker learned from Crosby and a lot of that was how he prepared his game everything he does it's full intent of getting better when we are doing the walkthroughs and the warm-ups at the camp he was fully locked in on his stretching out things like that just seeing how he moves how he takes care of business and it also helps he's now being mentored by Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith as I talked about he was an assistant defensive line coach in Oakland for the start of Crosby's career and he's really really really looking forward to playing under coach Smith and Smith himself he understands the parallels between these two players and he also wants to ensure that Booker remains his own player Smith is being very clear look he's got to be Austin Booker and just because the heart of Max Crosby is Max Crosby Austin Booker's got to make his own name for himself he's got to set the standard of who he's going to be and kind of looking at Max Crosby's standard two-time second Team all pro 52 sacks in just five seasons and to hear it directly from Austin Booker he has such a level head this is a guy that just puts his head down and works I'm so optimistic about this player this is to hear from him I'm My Own player and I have my own feel and hopefully I can make my own legacy like him it's so cool how this defensive line is filling out right we've got Geron developing into this three Tech Billings is just like the steady presence on the line the lunch pill guy just a guy that holds everything together Montes sweat say no more talking over and over and over during the early parts of this offseason how we just needed a right end before we know Austin Booker has flashed big time you've got Daniel Hardy he had a great preseason game last week I want to see if that continues oh man Demarcus Walker his play is starting to match his Trash Talk which is absolutely fantastic do yourselves a favor if you can find a Demarcus walker uh interview on YouTube if you can even find a transcript if you can look up film of when he's been miked up this guy is just so much fun to listen to his trash talk is so exquisitly great um I just love having that guy on the team he is so much fun but we're looking at really these three guys being a tandem Jacob Martin I haven't heard much about his injury status he can come back in and we've got some other Fringe players that are starting to get healthy this defensive line is looking like it's going to be a strength and there's no worry about it linebackers there's no problem whatsoever about them we got a secondary that I'm seeing is number one in the league so I think a top 10 defense is definitely true I think a top five defense is actually where this unit's going to be and you guys can call me on that so we just got to stay healthy along the line but any team any team if you have multiple injuries on either line it's no longer going to be a good line so we got to judge the players that are in Camp the players that are actually on this team and let the injury dominoes fall where they may you guys let me know what you think uh I am always open to conversing on the on the on the discussion board it's so much fun you guys have been so generous with your time and your loyalty thank you so much for watching bear down and hey enjoy this preseason game see you