49ers 2020 ‘Who Is?’ series: Nick Bosa is Niners’ best defender

Why Nick Bosa regresses for 49ers in 2020

Aside from the always-present injury concerns every player faces, there aren’t too many expected reasons why Nick Bosa should trend downward in 2020.

But there are some possibilities why this could happen.

In the second half of 2019, when Bosa’s sack numbers dropped a bit, the 49ers were dealing with Dee Ford missing substantial chunks of games, allowing opponents to focus the majority of their outside pass protection against Bosa. This also hindered the sack efforts from the Niners’ top producer in this category, defensive tackle Arik Armstead, who had just two sacks over his final six regular-season games.

Ford is expected to be back fully healthy now, which is good and should serve Bosa well. But the trade of Buckner could also mean opponents shift protection more against Ford and Bosa, thereby forcing the rookie, Javon Kinlaw, to make an immediate pass-rushing impact right away.

If Kinlaw struggles in this regard early on, it’ll mean more work and more difficulties for Bosa, Ford and Armstead.

Now, this doesn’t automatically equate to Bosa having a tremendous fall in his second year. Rather it’s only speculation we’d see a drop in the traditional stats like sacks, quarterback hits and pressures.

Until Kinlaw reaches his full potential, the full focus of other teams’ attention will be on Bosa.