The accolades for San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa keep piling up. After leading the league with 18.5 sacks, the talented pass rusher was named a first-team All-Pro and named to his third Pro Bowl roster.
Add another honor to Bosa's resume. The defensive end has been named the Pro Football Writers of America's (PFWA) Defensive Player of the Year.
"Bosa, in his fourth season, is the PFWA's Defensive Player of the Year for the first time, and the honor is the third by a 49ers player (CB Deion Sanders; 1994 and DT Dana Stubblefield; 1997) since the award was instituted in 1992," the PFWA wrote in the announcement of its award recipients. "He is the first defensive end to win the award since Jacksonville's Calais Campbell in 2017, and he is the 12th overall defensive end presented the PFWA Defensive Player of the Year honor.
"Bosa started and played in 16 games, and he led the NFL with 18.5 sacks (second-most in franchise history) and 49 quarterback hits. He posted 51 total tackles (41 solo), 19 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a pass defense. He posted at least one sack in 13 games, including a season-high three sacks against Miami in Week 13, and he registered five games with multiple sack totals. He was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week twice in Weeks 13 and 16, and he earned the NFC Defensive Player of the Month award for November. Bosa was selected to the PFWA's 2022 All-NFL and All-NFC teams."
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named PFWA's 2022 NFL Most Valuable Player. In addition, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson was named the Offensive Player of the Year.
Bosa is in his fourth NFL season. San Francisco made the pass rusher the No. 2 overall pick, selecting him out of Ohio State in the 2019 NFL Draft.