Getty Nick Bosa rushes during the first quarter of the Sunday, December 5, road game at Seattle.
Nick Bosa still has five games left in 2021, but there’s already chatter of the postseason accolades he’ll garner.
Rightfully so, since he’s gone from tearing his Achilles and watching the San Francisco 49ers from the sidelines in 2020 to tearing into blocks for 14 quarterback sacks in 13 games this season.
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The 14 doesn’t just represent an early career-best number of sacks for the third-year pro, but it’s the most sacks a 49ers defender has posted since Aldon Smith collected 19.5 in 2012.
While Bosa is tied with Robert Quinn of the Chicago Bears for most sacks among NFC leaders, 49ers beat reporter for The Athletic David Lombardi adds that Bosa trails one Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate in another sack category:
Total sack yards…
1. Micah Parsons: 115
2. Nick Bosa: 114
3. Robert Quinn: 96
4. Matthew Judon: 85
5. Myles Garrett: 85
Over a football field’s worth of sacks for Parsons and Bosa this year
That kind of production from Bosa already sparks talk of a Pro Bowl selection and First Team All-Pro appearance by fans and the NFL media. But, there are analysts who believe Bosa is due to win either one or another highly distinguished award: Comeback Player of the Year or Defensive Player of the Year.
CPOY Talk
On the Monday, December 6 edition of Heavy’s “I’m Just Saying,” the panel of Brian Mazique, Paul Esden, Ryan Sanudo and myself all debated on who should be the 2021 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
The criteria for this award usually goes to someone who overcame a serious season-ending injury or perhaps battled back from a personal setback. Was Bosa the unanimous choice among the Heavy NFL writers given his return from a devastating torn ACL?
I went with Bosa for these reasons: He had to show the league he still had that explosive burst after the snap following ACL surgery and prove he can recapture his stellar rookie season of 2019 after missing significant time in 2020. He’s done just that and much, much more.
Additionally, for those overcoming a devastating knee injury, sometimes there are questions of whether that injured knee can bend the way it used to and give someone the lower body leverage advantage when going against blockers. Per these clips from NFL scout Brandon Thorn of Bleacher Report on Tuesday, December 14, Bosa has shown no issue with getting low on a blocker and being limited by his surgically repaired knee.
Nick Bosa’s last four sacks have come using the forklift technique
But is Bosa the sweeping favorite for the award among the panelist of Heavy writers? Nope. Each writer went with a different choice.
For Esden, who covers the Jets for Heavy, he stayed with New York and chose linebacker C.J. Moseley for these reasons: Returning from a coronavirus opt out year and producing past 100 tackles for the first time since 2018. Heavy on Cardinals writer Sanudo went with Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys for his touchdown pass production after also returning from a season-ending knee injury of 2020. And Mazique’s pick? The Heavy on Patriots and Bulls writer came down to Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Prescott and ended up going with the Cowboys’ quarterback for coming back from, what he called, having a leg bent backwards and “showing no ill effects from that injury.”
DPOY Talk
If Bosa isn’t the pick for the league’s top comeback nod, perhaps the next award Bosa claims is the highest honor for any defensive player: The Defensive Player of the Year award.
NFL reporter Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports is one who asked the burning question on Monday, December 13 on Twitter:
Manager of the Bleacher Report app Sean Jordan is another who is on board with Bosa as a Defensive Player of the Year contender, firing off this tweet on December 13 as well.
For coming off a torn ACL, I feel like Nick Bosa is officially having the great season the Niners needed from him. 14 sacks (3rd in NFL) and 18 tackles for loss (1st in NFL) while being double teamed more than any other EDGE is DPOY stuff.
Bosa would still face some competition for the award, notably from the following contenders:
T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh: Watt is the current league leader in sacks with 16.
Myles Garrett, Cleveland: Garrett trails Watt with 15 sacks — and has more than Bosa in 13 games.
Bobby Wagner, Seattle: The inside linebacker leads the league with 152 total tackles and the NFC with 83 solo stops.
Trevon Diggs, Dallas: The second-year cornerback is the NFL leader at 9 interceptions through 13 contests.
But there are others who believe Bosa could pull this rare double: Win both awards.
#49ers Nick Bosa is putting up Defensive Player of the Year vibes
Bosa has compiled 14 sacks and is currently ranked 3rd in sacks across the NFL
CPOY 🤝 DPOY