© Stan Szeto | 2019 Oct 27
Nick Bosa became a star on Sunday.
The 49ers’ first-round pick had about as dominant a game as a defensive end can during the 51-13 destruction of the Carolina Panthers, sacking quarterback Kyle Allen three times and picking off a screen pass that he almost took to the house.
Nick Bosa through three quarters:
• 4 tackles
• 3 sacks
• 1 interception
• 1 massive stiff-arm— KNBR (@KNBR) October 27, 2019
NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport told Murph & Mac on Monday morning that the performance didn’t just put Bosa at the top of the Defensive Rookie of the Year power rankings, but in the conversation for Defensive Player of the year.
“The early word on Nick Bosa is that he was good, they like what they got,” Rapoport said. “I remember talking to Richard Sherman when I was at training camp. He basically grabbed me and showed me Nick Bosa’s move, why he’s so good with his hands, why he’s effective.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I think the pick is going to be good, but for Sherman to get so excited about it he might actually be really good.’ Then he hurt his ankle and kind of looked decent the first couple of weeks.
“It turns out everyone was right and the enthusiasm was probably right. This is going to be as good of a first-round pick as you can get. I would say Defensive Rookie of the Year is one thing, but you can definitely feel the buzz for a potential Defensive Player of the Year push. It all kind of starts in the media anyway so we’ll see where it goes.”
Listen to the full interview below.