Trent Williams was full of praise for Nick Bosa’s work ethic and devotion to football when asked about the young defensive stud.
Defensive end Nick Bosa is coming off a 2021 NFL season where he racked up a career-high 15.5 sacks and will look to build off last season's performance, further establishing himself as one of the league's elite pass rushers.
Only the Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett (16), Chicago Bears' Robert Quinn (18.5), and Pittsburgh Steelers' T.J. Watt (22.5) sacked the quarterback more times than the San Francisco edge rusher.
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ESPN's Seth Walder released his predictions for how many sacks the league's top edge rushers will record this season, and of course, Bosa's name is relatively high.
Using a model that includes sack totals and rates over the past two seasons, projected snaps, pass rush win rate (PRWR), etc. Walder predicts Bosa will finish the 2022 season tied for third alongside Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson with over 10.5 sacks.
"Bosa's 15.5 sacks last season were particularly impressive because he was double-teamed on 26% of his pass rushes when he lined up on the edge, the second-highest rate in the league," Walder wrote. "... Like Watt and Garrett, Bosa boasts a track record of sack and pass rush win rate success.
"His injury-wrecked 2020 campaign, however, is a slight knock in comparison. While Bosa might have put up big numbers had he been healthy that season, we don't know that for sure. We do with the other two."
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While predicted to finish third in sacks this upcoming season, Walder has two players who were ahead of Bosa in 2021, finishing ahead of him again in 2022, with Garrett predicted to have 12 and Watt to have a final tally of 12.5.
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Bosa did not have to rehab a torn left ACL this offseason (as he did one year ago), and that could be a factor that plays a role in his 2022 season.
The 49ers' pass rusher had the entire spring and most of the summer to work on other aspects of his game to ensure he concludes this upcoming season as the league's sack leader.