Getty Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers in front of two Chicago Bears.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa is one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. He ranked 25th on the NFL Network’s Top-100 players list, had the seventh-ranked defensive grade among defensive ends in 2021, according to Pro Football Focus, and through two weeks of the 2022 NFL season, Bosa has remained as effective as ever in the eyes of opposing defensive coordinators.
Need proof? Look no further than the ESPN Sports Analytics Writer Seth Walder‘s Edge Pass Rushing Efficiency Chart, which details how often edge rushers are double-teamed and how they fare under increased pressure.
First win rate chart of the season!
Double team rate at edge (x) by pass rush win rate at edge (y).
Traffic jam at the bottom courtesy of Micah Parsons at the top!
Of the over 90 players on Walder’s list, none have been double teamed as often through Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as Bosa, and yet, his pass rush win rate is above average versus the rest of the league, trailing just nine rushers and virtually tied with his brother Joey in Los Angeles.
As Kyle Posey of Niners Nation pointed out in his write-up on the same graph, Bosa currently ranks fifth after two weeks in terms of PFF’s win percentage stat at 23.3%, has just one fewer sack than Parsons despite being double-teamed far more often, and, despite the extra attention he draws from opposing offenses, he is still tied for the NFL lead in quarterback hits.
If Bosa can keep up his efforts against Denver’s offensive line, there’s little reason to believe his efforts won’t be rewarded on Walder’s list in Week 3 too.
The Denver Broncos Offensive Line Has Excelled Against The Pass
While the Niners have been incredibly effective at pass blocking through the first two weeks of the 2022 NFL season, according to Pro Football Focus, following close behind are the Denver Broncos, whose 79.6 rating is just 1.5 lower than Kyle Shanahan’s squad.
Of the six offensive linemen who have played snaps for the Broncos through Week 2, none have a pass blocking rating lower than 67.2, with guard Dalton Risner ranking fifth among qualifying guards with a pass blocking grade of 83.3.
Fortunately for Bosa, the “weakest link” on the Broncos’ offensive line is right tackle Cameron Fleming, who has a pass blocking grade of 67.2 and ranks 32nd among qualifying offensive tackles. If Demeco Ryans keeps Bosa over the right tackle, the matchup should work out well, even if Nathaniel Hackett opts to double team the Pro Bowl defensive end with Albert Okwuegbunam or Melvin Goedon.
The San Francisco 49ers Are Getting Nick Bosa On A Bargain
According to Over the Cap’s Valuation Diamond, Bosa is one of the best value players in the NFL. Though he makes more than almost every other player on a rookie-scale contract in the NFL, as he was the second overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft and has a cap hit of $8.38 million in 2022, Over the Cap’s OTC Valuation puts Bosa’s on-field production at $20.516 million, or almost 2.5 times his actual cap value.
With some projecting that Bosa could become the NFL’s first-ever $30 million defender, his OTC Valuation may no longer rank among the best-value players in the NFL, but for now, the 49ers are the beneficiaries of a fantastic value at one of the most important positions in the game.