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Despite numerous injuries and four missed games this past season, Joey Bosa lost zero respect among NFL circles and is still regarded as one of the best at his position in the entire league.
Keeping up with Pro Football Focus’ recent rankings of the top-32 players at every position, Bosa landed in the top-three for their list of the league’s best pass rushers. Specifically, at the number three spot behind only Khalil Mack of the Bears and the Steelers’ T.J. Watt.
Here’s what author Ben Linsey had to say about Bosa’s place among the elite:
“It didn’t take long for Bosa to establish himself as one of the league’s top pass-rushers. He notched 59 pressures as a rookie back in 2016 despite not seeing the field until Week 5 and has only continued to improve in the four years since. Bosa is the only active edge rusher with a pass-rush win rate higher than 20% since 2016, sitting at 22.0% since entering the league. The biggest question heading into the 2021 season is whether he’ll remain healthy throughout the year.”
Bosa finished the 2020 season with 39 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks to go along with 27 quarterbacks hits, a pass deflection, and a fumble recovery. His 15 TFL’s were the third-most for a single season in his career and his hits on the QB were second most.
The Big Bear’s best game of the season came in week 11 against the Bills when he recorded a season-high three sacks and six tackles for loss. He was a one-man wrecking crew and a glimpse into what a completely healthy Bosa can look like on any given week. It also shows you just how affected Bosa was by his injuries. In the 11 other games he played in, he totaled just 4.5 sacks and nine TFLs.
Pure domination from Joey Bosa @jbbigbear @Chargers pic.twitter.com/U1yILF6C9F
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 27, 2020
What I like about these rankings is that you can tell they aren’t heavily-favored towards or based solely on which guys get to the quarterback the most. Bosa and Mack were not among the top guys in sacks last season but they’re able to disrupt the game in so many ways that their impact reaches far out from their totals in that category.
I’m glad to see Bosa the respect he deserves, despite all the unfortunate injuries that kept him limited this past season. Going forward, the sky is still the limit for him and I cannot wait to see what that looks like.