As the 49ers continue to surge with five wins in six games, Nick Bosa’s profile continues to rise. So are his sack numbers.
In Sunday’s 31-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons, Bosa racked up his 15th sack of the season, a third-quarter strip-sack that led to a Fred Warner fumble recovery and eventually a Jeff Wilson Jr. touchdown.
Bosa is a bona fide game-wrecker and is throwing his name into the conversation for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams, who is in the midst of a career year himself, heaped praise on Bosa while speaking with reporters in Santa Clara Tuesday.
“I feel like he is the best in the game at this point,” Williams said.
Bosa might not be getting the nationwide love going to the Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett, Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons or Trevon Diggs. Even the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald might be overshadowing Bosa in the NFC West.
Williams has been around the NFL for 11 seasons and seen everything an edge rusher can throw at you. He believes Bosa is the prototypical defensive end.
“If you went into a lab and created a pass-rusher, Nick Bosa would walk out,” Williams said. “That’s what makes him so hard to deal with. You talk about speed, you talk about quickness, you talk about power and then you add on the technique and the skill. You put all that into one person and into a body that’s able to do physically anything, you get a player like Nick Bosa. It sucks for the other team. I’m glad I ain’t gotta deal with it.”
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Williams has practiced against Bosa in high-energy reps and that’s enough for him. He’s content watching Bosa work from the sidelines on Sundays. Williams added that Bosa’s compact frame makes him a tougher matchup than rangier edge rushers who might not have the same quickness and burst.
“You’re dealing with everything,” Williams said. “You’re dealing with a guy who is – I try to stay out of these conversations because I have a biased opinion – but when you look at the NFL right now, who would you take over Nick Bosa? To me, I think he’s playing some of the best football in the NFL right now from the edge position. I feel sorry for the offensive tackles, I really do. Because I’ve had full-speed reps against him and we go one-on-ones – that’s full speed, not taking it easy on each other – and he has a full array of everything.”
Bosa’s 18 tackles-for-loss lead the NFL and his four forced fumbles are tied for second. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is the runaway favorite for Comeback Player of the Year, but defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans went to bat for Bosa Tuesday.
“Probably one of the most detailed rushers I’ve ever been with,” Ryans said. “He’s just constantly, always around our quarterback. I’m happy to have him on our team. I think I said it before last week, every week he’s as productive as anybody in the league. To do that coming off an ACL injury it’s unheard of. He definitely should have some type of promotion, whether it’s Comeback Player of the Year or Defensive Player of the Year. Bosa definitely deserves that.”
