Nick Bosa has been perfecting his pass-rushing skills since entering the NFL in 2019. The fourth-year defensive end leads the league with six sacks and 16 quarterback hits. In addition, Pro Football Focus has credited him with a league-leading 30 total pressures.
Bosa has proven himself to be a game-wrecker on defense. The new San Francisco 49ers team captain is now proving himself as a leader.
Late last season, head coach Kyle Shanahan picked Bosa to speak to his teammates the night before each game, motivating the 49ers for the upcoming matchup. While some speeches are more memorable than others, the team knows that when Bosa speaks, you listen. The 24-year-old defender has already proven himself with his talent and work ethic.
"Nick's not a big talker, so I started doing this last year, kind of just put him on the spot and mess with him a little bit," Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area this week. "... He's a man of few words. You've got about one word added each week. And the first time he did it, we won, so we kept doing it. I think we went on like a four-game winning streak last year when he did do it, and he kept getting better and better.
"I think it's real cool when people don't talk much, who think about their words, because when he does talk, every word does mean something, and he's gotten really good at it. And it started last year, and I think our whole team remembered that, so [before the season], I just randomly said, 'On Saturdays, the day before the game, let's get Nick again like last year.'
"That was his best one before Chicago. So since he did that—I know we didn't win—but we're going to stick with him."
Looking back at his rookie campaign, Bosa admits that he is more mature now and has grown as a leader. While he is still one of the younger talents on the roster, he is always eager to share his NFL experience with his teammates.
"I was 21 [my rookie season]. Now I'm 24," Bosa said this week. "So that's definitely a big growth period in anybody's life, especially when you're living this type of life and around a lot of really good leaders and people. It kind of forces you to grow up a little bit. I wouldn't say I'm a huge vocal leader on the team because we have a lot of guys who have been in the league for 10-plus years and have seen a lot more than I have.
"But I do have a lot of pretty valuable experiences so far, and there are some young guys in the D-line room that I like to share that with."