49ers' Nick Bosa rated No. 1 pass rusher in NFL after first three games

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In the 49ers' Week 3 win over the Steelers, Pittsburgh completed only two passes that traveled at least one yard past the line of scrimmage. Granted, both of those completions went for explosive touchdowns, but the minuscule number speaks to the tremendous pressure San Francisco's defensive line has been generating so far this season.

It's been a team effort for the 49ers' D-line, as The Athletic's David Lombardi noted Wednesday, but within that, there have been some standout individual performances, most notably from Nick Bosa.

Believe it or not, three games into his NFL career, Bosa has graded out as the top pass rusher in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.

Bosa, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, has registered a 14.0 pass-rushing productivity grade, PFF's formula that places an emphasis on total pressures per pass-rushing snap. That 14.0 grade ranks as the best of all NFL edge rushers, and the top five consists of some standout company with 21.5 sacks between them.

Cleveland's Myles Garrett ranks second with a 12.8 pass-rushing productivity grade. He and Bosa have generated the same number of quarterback pressures (17), but Bosa has achieved that number in 18 fewer snaps, hence his higher grade.

Behind Garrett are Minnesota's Danielle Hunter (12.0), Green Bay's Preston Smith (11.9) and Tampa Bay's Shaquil Barrett (11.8).

Bosa has been improving on a game-by-game basis, and he's coming off his best performance yet in which he led San Francisco with seven pressures of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, the highest total of any 49er during Kyle Shanahan's tenure as head coach. This has all come after an offseason in which Bosa was significantly limited due to injury, but with San Francisco now enjoying its bye week, he believes he'll finally be at full strength coming out of it.

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If Bosa is the most effective pass-rusher in the NFL at less than full strength -- three games into his career, no less -- just imagine what he'll be capable of moving forward.

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