49ers DE Nick Bosa's Odds to Win Defensive Player of the Year

It's possible Bosa is being underrated.
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
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In 2022, Nick Bosa was considered the best defensive player in the NFL.

That season, he recorded a league-high 18.5 sacks and won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in a landslide. Received 46 of the 50 first-place votes, then became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history when the 49ers extended his contract.

And then Bosa had a down season in 2023 by his standards. He recorded "only" 10.5 sacks, which led the 49ers but ranked tied for 17th in the NFL with players such as Leonard Floyd, whom the 49ers signed this offseason.

In addition, Bosa while Bosa went to his fourth Pro Bowl, he was not even in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, although Fred Warner was. Which means Bosa wasn't even the best player on his defense.

This year, the oddsmakers expect Bosa to bounce back, although maybe not all the way. He currently has the fifth-best odds (+800) to win Defensive Player of the Year after Micah Parsons (+600), Myles Garrett (+700), T.J. Watt (+700) and Maxx Crosby (+700). So Bosa's standing around the league has taken a bit of a hit. He's no longer seen as the best edge rusher in football. Now he's merely one of the best.

It's possible Bosa is being underrated. Last season, he played on a defensive line that didn't have a second edge-rushing threat. Now, he'll play opposite Leonard Floyd, the best edge rusher the 49ers have had other than Bosa since Dee Ford was on the team.

Expect a big season from Bosa.


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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.