2. Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
Most rookie pass-rushers tend to struggle a bit when they get to the NFL. The 20-hour rule in college football (which, of course, every coach follows to the letter, ha ha) prevents coaches from teaching their pass-rushers all the moves that will help them succeed at the next level. And now, they’re going against seasoned practitioners at the highest level, as opposed to slow, fat guys they can simply run around. All that is prelude to the notion that Nick Bosa had one of the more remarkable rookie campaigns we’ve seen from any edge defender. Though his nine regular-season sacks didn’t come close to the rookie record of 14.5 set by Tennessee’s Jevon Kearse in 1999, Bosa made up for that with an absolutely incendiary postseason in which he registered four more sacks, and a 12-pressure performance in Super Bowl LIV that would have had him on the precipice of an MVP award had the Chiefs not performed another one of their comeback specials.
There isn’t much the Ohio State alum can’t do to get to the quarterback. Speed, power, versatility of moves… he’s got it all. And he’s able to set up opposing blockers as if he’s been in the league for years. Perhaps he’s picked up a few things from his older brother.
This must be a Bosa thing. Force the outside step, and waltz right in to the quarterback. pic.twitter.com/ynqOXhl6lh
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 16, 2020
Bosa finished second only to Green Bay’s Za’Darius Smith with 102 total pressures in the 2019 season; to see him wind up on top of that list in any of the next few seasons would come as no surprise.