This might not be shocking at all, but Nick Bosa has won 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year. The announcement came at the NFL Honors award show on Saturday.
Bosa made his presence known in the league and can be argued as being the best defensive player for the 49ers the moment he set foot on the field. While he began his season injured, Bosa still put together a jaw-dropping season with nine sacks, 25 quarterback hits, an interception (yes, as a pass rusher he picked off a quarterback—and not from a deflection either), a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Bosa was making life hell for quarterbacks all through 2019, but his coming out party came in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns where he notched two sacks, and recovered his own forced fumble. There was no looking back from then on, he won the NFC Defensive Player of the month in October and also a couple Defensive Player of the Weeks—one of which was the aforementioned Browns game.
The 49ers have had issues drafting defense in the first round, but with Bosa’s availability at No. 2 overall, he transformed the pass rush into one of the best in the NFL. While many of us thought Bosa was not a possibility given how good he was, the stars definitely aligned for the 49ers to not only be able to draft him, but get the production they did out of him.
Get used to it. He might be getting a Defensive Player of the Year sooner rather than later.