The best defensive player in the NFL will be revealed when the Defensive Player of the Year is announced in a few months.
Several players will be candidates for that award across both the AFC and NFC.
But with 15 weeks down, Pro Football Focus has picked the best defensive player for the NFC based on its grading scale.
San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa earned that accolade, with a grade of 93.2 – ahead of DPOY favorite Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys.
The best NFC defenders this season pic.twitter.com/0HP7HAXT1s
— PFF (@PFF) December 21, 2023
Bosa’s sack numbers are a bit down – his 10.5 sacks rank 15th in the league – but the 49ers star remains a wrecking ball at the defensive line.
His 33 quarterback hits rank No. 1 among all defensive players, as does his 19 quarterback knockdowns.
Bosa also has 42 pressures – which rank second in the league behind only Detroit Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
The 49ers have the second-best defense in the NFL, too, thanks to Bosa and the team’s litany of defensive studs.
So while Bosa may not be only the top DPOY candidate, he still has time to stake another claim to the award he also won this past season.
Bosa gets a great statement game in Week 16 against the Baltimore Ravens and MVP candidate Lamar Jackson.
A big performance against the best team in the AFC might just be enough to vault Bosa from the top-graded player in his conference to the best defensive player in the entire NFL.
Bosa has turned it on at the end of the season, too, with 2.5 sacks over the past two blowout wins for the 49ers.
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