Nick Bosa still setting the standard for NFL pass rushers despite lack of sacks
If you were to look purely at sack numbers through the first two weeks of the NFL season, you might conclude that Nick Bosa is struggling to justify a contract that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history. The 49ers' defensive end does not have a sack after the opening two games, having signed […]
If you were to look purely at sack numbers through the first two weeks of the NFL season, you might conclude that Nick Bosa is struggling to justify a contract that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
The 49ers' defensive end does not have a sack after the opening two games, having signed his massive extension just four days before the Week 1 win over the Steelers.
Yet the modern day axiom surrounding pass rushers is that disruption is production and, while Bosa may not have succeeded in getting to either of the quarterbacks he has faced so far in 2023, he has caused plenty of disruption.
In the 49ers' Week 2 win over the Rams, Bosa was credited by Pro Football Focus with five pressures, tying defensive tackle Javon Hargrave for a team-high.
Bosa posted three quarterback hits and two hurries, recording a pass rush win rate of 31.9 percent that was nearly 10 percentage points above the next best 49er (Hargrave – 22.5%).
His 12 total pressures through two games trail only Aidan Hutchinson (13). Among defensive linemen with at least 50 pass rush snaps, Bosa's pass rush win rate of 29.7 percent is the best in the NFL, his ratio well above that of likely early Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Micah Parsons (23.6%).
By that measure, a player with zero sacks has been the premier pass rusher in the NFL so far this term. Many would dispute such a statement given the more tangible production of Parsons for the Cowboys and their dominant defense, but the intriguing thing for San Francisco is that Bosa has delivered such disruption while conceding he is not yet fully back to his best after his long holdout saw him miss all of training camp and preseason.
"I feel good," said Bosa after the victory in Los Angeles. "I think I needed a couple of games to get my body into football shape, for sure. You can't simulate it. I think now that I'm through two and I've had some pretty good output for this one, I think I'm only going to be up from here."
Speaking to reporters on his Monday conference call, head coach Kyle Shanahan echoed that sentiment.
"I think he's getting back into football shape, getting back into his groove," Shanahan said. "I thought he got better and stronger throughout the game, similar to last week in that aspect. I thought he finished the game real strong and took a step forward from Pittsburgh."
Bosa may not have a sack to his name in 2023, but he has quickly resumed his destructive form upon returning to the 49ers. If he lives up to his own words and those of Shanahan, Bosa will deliver more obvious evidence of why San Francisco gave him such a large contract in a primetime setting against the Giants on Thursday.
49ers still in the dark over severity of Brandon Aiyuk injury
Kyle Shanahan couldn’t offer an update.
Featured Image Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
