Bosa has been an A-plus pick, and he can get better
Considering how fast media and fans want to hand out grades following the NFL draft, I don’t feel at all premature in making a declaration: Nick Bosa, the No. 2 overall pick in last April draft, has been an A-plus pick for the 49ers.
Yes, he has played only three games, but what more do you need to see to know that he was the best possible selection the 49ers could have made in the spring?
And this might put me out on a limb, but the rookie has been the 49ers’ best defensive player through the first three weeks of the season.
Now, there’s fierce competition for that spot, and perhaps my familiarity with Bosa — I was the first person to ever give him a five-star rating, back when I was covering recruiting in South Florida — and my bias toward defensive linemen is coming through here. I don’t mean to undercut the unquestionable positives Kwon Alexander and Fred Warner have provided, or overlook what Arik Armstead and Richard Sherman are doing, either. And Ahkello Witherspoon and Deforest Buckner — his poor Week 1 game aside — have been great, too.
But, at least in my eyes, what Bosa has done in his first three games is special.
He was a game-changer against the Steelers, making Allpro left tackle Alejandro Villanueva look like a blocking sled.
In all, Bosa had seven pressures in last Sunday’s win, and if pressure assists were a defensive lineman stat, he would have racked up a half dozen of those, too.
And that performance wasn’t an outlier. In his three games, Bosa has 11 hurries, four quarterback hits, and two sacks. His 17 pressures are the sixth-best in the NFL, per Profootballfocus. PFF also has Bosa graded as the most productive pass rusher in the NFL through three games.
And to think, he’s only going to get better.
On the flip side, it’s a good thing the Niners’ defensive line is deep and playing well, because Dee Ford’s left knee tendinitis is not going to go away.
Heading into the bye week, there was optimism around the Niners that the time off would perhaps make the injury … disappear, I guess. I’m no doctor, but that always seemed ridiculous to me.
At least now, the Niners and Ford are not pretending it’s no big deal.
Against the Steelers last Sunday, Ford was used only as a situational pass rusher. He has played 40 percent of the Niners’ defensive snaps, with that percentage dipping against the Steelers. And while he has been pretty damn good in that role, I can’t help recalling the cost of acquiring Ford, both in trade and in contract.
A second-round draft pick is valuable. I know we often project more value onto draft picks than they deserve — we’re hoarders of hope — but I think we can all agree that a second-round pick isn’t some sort of toss-in.
We all know that an $85-million
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49ers vs. Browns, Oct. 7, 5:15 p.m., ESPN contract isn’t pocket change. And, unlike most 49ers’ contracts, there is no clean exit.
Forgive me, but this is starting to look like a bust of a deal.
The Niners knew about Ford’s knee injury when they traded for him, too. The Chiefs didn’t hide it.
But them moving on from a 28-year-old player they developed, who would have been tailor-made for their new 4-3 system (as he is for the Niners’ one-gap, widenine setup), was always peculiar. Even stranger is going out and giving Frank Clark what is effectively the same contract Ford was seeking.
They chose one over the other. That’s gotta tell you something.
I think it’s fair to say that the Chiefs are operating on a different level than the rest of the NFL, save for the Patriots. They know what they’re doing, and they didn’t want Ford.
It reminds me of when the Steelers moved on from Antonio Brown; you have to be at least slightly suspicious when you make a trade with a competent organization. (Of course, Ford and Brown couldn’t be more different as people.)
I think the Niners got burned on this one. Ford is going to play the full year with this knee injury. And while that’s not an issue when it comes to him missing practice, if it limits the time he can spend on the field on Sundays, that’s a concern.
Hopefully, for all parties involved, a surgery of some sort next offseason can get him back to as close to 100 percent as an NFL veteran can be at this juncture in his career.
But this is a game of attrition — guys don’t just “bounce back” from injuries like Ford’s. (Again, not a doctor.)
So forgive the crassness, but barring a dramatic medical turnaround, it looks as if the 49ers bought damaged goods.