Kyle Shanahan makes bold declaration to critics of Nick Bosa
The San Francisco 49ers have made it into the NFC Championship game behind a sold defense and key special teams plays. Returning from a season-ending injury in 2020, defensive end Nick Bosa has emerged as a leading candidate for Comeback Player of the Year thanks to his contribution.
However, head coach Kyle Shanahan feels that Nick Bosa deserves even more credit in the postseason awards.
“I don’t think people appreciate how good Bosa is play-in and play-out,” Shanahan said earlier this month, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I’ve heard people talk about him for Comeback Player of the Year, and every time they say that, I can’t believe he hasn’t been mentioned in Defensive Player of the Year.”
This season, Bosa has posted 52 tackles with 15.5 sacks. He also has four forced fumbles and 32 quarterback hits over 17 regular season games. Bosa’s dominant effort has continued through the first two playoff games with six tackles and 2.5 sacks.
As Kyle Shanahan also campaigns for Nick Bosa to enter the Defensive Player of the Year race, the numbers suggest the votes could split between several candidates. In the NFC, Dallas Cowboys stars Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons join the race along with perineal winner Aaron Donald. The AFC also offers up Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt, who tied Michael Strahan’s sack record this season – and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
49ers defensive assistant interviews for job
Alabama football legend DeMeco Ryans is making a name for himself as a coach in the NFL. At just 37-years old, Ryans worked his way through the 49ers coaching system after his retirement from playing in 2015.
In 2017, the team gave Ryans his first shot at coaching in the NFL — hiring the former All-Pro as their defensive quality control coach. Now, Ryans is a rising star as the San Francisco defensive coordinator.
After a great first season as the leader of the team’s defense, Ryans has shown his stuff to the world during the playoffs. First, his defense stifled the Cowboys offense in the Wild card round. Then, the 49ers followed the great performance with a dominating one against the Green Bay Packers.
“#49ers DC DeMeco Ryans interviews for the #Vikings head coaching job on Sunday,” revealed NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
“ESPN reported that the #Raiders plan to interview 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans as part of their head coach search,” tweeted Tashan Reed of The Athletic. “Ryans, Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo & interim coach Rich Bisaccia are the only known candidates for now.”