49ers Choose Nick Bosa With 2nd Overall Pick In NFL Draft
NASHVILLE (CBS SF) -- The San Francisco 49ers selected defensive tackle Nick Bosa of Ohio State as the team's top draft choice in the 2019 NFL Draft Thursday.
The 49ers used the second overall pick in the draft to select Bosa, considered one of the top - if not the top - defensive linemen in this year's draft.
Bosa becomes the fourth defensive lineman the team has selected in the last five years joining Solomon Thomas, DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead.
A 21-year-old junior, Bosa played in just three games for the Buckeyes in 2018 before suffering a core muscle injury forcing him to miss the rest of the season for rehab. But, prior to the injury he had gotten off to a monster start with 14 tackles (6 for loss) and four sacks. That would seem to be a continuation of the dominance that he showed as a part-time starter for OSU in the 2017 season when he racked up 16 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks despite starting just four games.
At 6'4" and weighing 266 pounds, Bosa ran a 4.79 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine last month the third-fastest time at the position. His speed off the edge generated disruptive plays continually in college and he is expected to do the same at the professional level. He steps into a defensive unit that ranked 22nd in the league in sacks last year with 37 and was 28th in points allowed (27.2). Bosa should help improve their rankings in both areas.
The 49ers open the season on Sunday, September 8th when they travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers.
Bosa, who has espoused conservative viewpoints, recently told ESPN he had scrubbed his Twitter page of a number of tweets that criticized Colin Kaepernick, Marvel's Black Panther and promoted Donald Trump because of the chance he might end up in the liberal San Francisco Bay Area.
The Arizona Cardinals owned the first pick in the draft and selected Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Kyler Murray of Oklahoma. Murray chose a football career over baseball after the Oakland Athletics selected Murray with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
