Nick Bosa won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year following the 2019 season. There were big expectations from fans and analysts as the young San Francisco 49ers pass rusher headed into his sophomore NFL campaign. Bosa's season ended in Week 2 with a torn ACL on the MetLife Stadium turf.
Bosa is expected to be at full strength for the upcoming season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan recently discussed the impact players like Bosa have for a defense.
"And when you can get good players around people like that, and you can have a good scheme, it's tough to mess with because there's not people in the league that can block those guys," Shanahan said. "You can hold on, and you can try to scheme and stuff so you limit the opportunities, but those dude's aren't getting blocked. It's a matter of time. So, you better make sure it's not a one-dimensional game."
Pro Football Focus ranked the top 32 NFL edge defenders, and Bosa came in at No. 5. His brother, Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers, ranked two spots ahead of him at No. 3. Also ahead of him are Khalil Mack of the Chicago Bears, T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
"Bosa wasn't able to build on his impressive debut as a rookie thanks to a torn ACL that ended his year in Week 2, but this is a good place to remind everyone just how strong that rookie performance was," wrote Ben Linsey. "Bosa's 80 pressures were over 10 more than the next closest rookie season since PFF began charting back in 2006. And his 89.8 overall grade wasn't just tops among all rookies in 2019; it was second among all players behind only T.J. Watt. His return from injury in 2021 is massive for San Francisco's defensive line."
Bosa finished his rookie campaign with 47 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, 25 quarterback hits, nine sacks, an interception, two passes defensed, and a forced fumble through 16 regular-season games, per Pro Football Reference. He also added four more sacks during postseason play.
Another 49ers player, Arik Armstead, also made it onto the ranking. The 27-year-old defender came in at No. 21.
"Listed at 6-foot-7 and 292 pounds, Armstead has shown he can play both on the interior and edge in San Francisco after moving past several injuries that limited him to fewer than 400 defensive snaps in each of his first three NFL seasons," wrote Linsey. "Over the last three years, Armstead's 88.5 run-defense grade is a top-10 mark among edge defenders. His 140 pressures over that same stretch are nearly double the amount he recorded in his first three years in the league (76)."
Despite Pro Football Focus' past praising of now-second-year defender Javon Kinlaw or the often underrated D.J. Jones, no 49ers defensive lineman made the analytics site's ranking of the 32 best interior defenders. San Francisco added defensive linemen Maurice Hurst Jr. and Zach Kerr to that interior this offseason. The team also added Samson Ebukam and Arden Key to the edges of the defensive line.
Pro Football Focus recently named Hurst as the 49ers' most underrated player.
"After being inexplicably released by the Raiders, Hurst now gets to show the 49ers what a valuable player he can be as part of their defensive line rotation," wrote Sam Monson. "Maurice Hurst may never have become a devastating NFL player, but he has been a consistently good pass-rusher, earning PFF pass-rushing grades of at least 77.0 over each of the last two seasons."