49ers: Nick Bosa Could Be the Comeback Player of the Year

Play Style

So how is he doing his damage? Nick Bosa usually lines up in a three-point stance at the right defensive end position and uses his exceptional quickness to defeat some of the best left tackles in the NFL. Bosa’s jump off the ball is so good that it sometimes looks like he’s offsides.

The speed rush is his bread and butter, as he’s betting that most tackles can’t keep him from getting around their outside shoulder to the quarterback, and most of the time he’s usually correct.

And it’s his speed rush that sets everything else up for Nick Bosa. Offensive tackles have to account for him going around them, and Bosa has shown that he can counter that by coming right at them with a bull rush or dipping inside for a straighter line to the quarterback. He’s so explosive at the line of scrimmage, which is a big reason why he can make so many tackles for loss on running plays in addition to pass plays.

If all that wasn’t enough, Nick Bosa is a high-motor and relentless player. During his rookie year, he picked up a few sacks because he simply refused to quit on the play. If he gets blocked, or knocked down, Bosa won’t stop pursuing the ball, and more than once I witnessed him make the play because the quarterback hung on to the ball too long and Bosa eventually ran him down.

It’s not one single trait that makes Nick Bosa such a special player, it’s all of them combined, the speed, the power, the quickness, the explosiveness, and the burning desire to make the most out of every play until the whistle is blown. How Nick Bosa has affected games and how he’s sparked the 49ers’ current playoff push demonstrates why gifted pass rushers are taken so high in the draft, and we’ll likely see that trend continue at the top of the first round this April.