NFL

49ers' Nick Bosa is a Disruptive Force

As a rookie, defensive end was the NFL’s fourth-best disruptive pass rusher, according to Next Gen Stats

Nick Bosa #97 of the San Francisco 49ers
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Analysts are on a never-ending quest to quantify value in pro football.

The latest is disruption rate, as calculated by NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats. You can add disruption rate to such other stats as average separation (for receivers), longest completed air distance (for quarterbacks) and fastest ball carriers (for running backs).

And, in this new way to analyze pass rushers – defensive linemen and outside linebackers – Nick Bosa is near the top of his class.

According to Nick Shook of NFL.com, who recently wrote about the league’s top disruptors of 2019, the 49ers’ rookie defensive end wreaked havoc against opposing offenses even beyond his impressive stat totals.

Bosa, the NFL’s Rookie Defensive Player of the Year, played all 16 games and had nine sacks and 47 combined tackles. His sack total was tied for 22nd in the NFL, far behind the 19.5 of Tampa Bay’s Shaquil Barrett. But as an overall disruptor, Bosa was No. 4 in the NFL behind only Myles Garrett of Cleveland, Za’Darius Smith of Green Bay and Robert Quinn of Dallas.

Disruption rate is the total number of disruptions (combined total of hurries, pressures and sacks, with only one counting per play), divided by number of pass-rush snaps.

Bosa had a disruption rate of 16.4 percent, on 71 total disruptions. Garrett’s was 18.5 percent, followed by Smith (17.5) and Quinn (17.2).

Wrote Shook: “By now, you know this story. Bosa was the final piece for a defensive line loaded with first-round talent, which helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl selectee and 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year earned his accolades, racking up the fourth-most QB pressures in the NFL (60), while finishing with a pressure percentage of 13.9, which also was good for fourth-best in the league. Bosa is just getting started, and boy, what a way to begin a pro career.”

Some see Bosa as becoming the league’s most dominant defensive player in Year 2 and beyond.

Adam Rank of NFL.com this week wrote that if Bosa stays healthy, he’d be “shocked” if the 49er isn’t NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

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