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What to Expect from 49ers DE Nick Bosa in 2024

We'll see what version of Bosa shows up this season.

Grant Cohn

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Just a year ago, Nick Bosa was considered the best defensive player in the NFL. Now he isn't even the best player at his position.

Bosa fell off last season after signing an extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL at the time. He recorded 10.5 sacks, which is good but not great, and he played poor run defense. And even though he played just 75 percent of the 49ers defensive snaps, his effort wasn't consistent.

Compare Bosa to Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. Last season, Crosby recorded 14.5 sacks and was excellent against the run while playing 95 percent of the Raiders defensive snaps and giving maximum effort on every play. Crosby simply was better than Bosa. Will that change this year?

It's fair to wonder if Bosa has the same motor he had before he got his huge contract extension. Because his brother, Joey Bosa, is averaging fewer than 7 sacks per season ever since he signed an extension with the Chargers in 2020. He isn't nearly the player he was before he signed that deal. He doesn't play as hard anymore and he misses lots of games.

Will Nick Bosa be the same way?

Did Nick Bosa play hard early in his career because he loves football or because he wanted to earn a record-setting extension? And now that he has it, can he find that drive that made him great? Because Maxx Crosby has the drive. He loves football.

We'll see what version of Bosa shows up this season.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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