SANTA CLARA — The defensive line is the 49ers' position group with the most turnover heading into the 2024 NFL season, but Nick Bosa is confident in his new teammates.
The All-Pro pass rusher spoke to the media on Tuesday and shared his thoughts on the unit as a whole, after spending time together during mandatory minicamp.
“I liked how it was going,” Boas said. “I liked how the edge guys were starting to develop and get used to the scheme.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Bosa has been vocal about the challenge for a lineman joining a defensive scheme that requires players to simply go after the quarterback. For players who have been taught to read and assess before rushing the passer, there is an adjustment period.
Along with Bosa, returning players include Javon Hargrave, Drake Jackson, Kalia Davis, Kevin Givens, Robert Beal and T.Y. McGill, but approximately half of the group is new to the team. Leonard Floyd, Jordan Elliott, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Maliek Collins are among the players who have joined the 49ers D-line room.
“Floyd looks great, which is expected,” Bosa said. “I like all the additions. Really good dudes. We had a nice D-line dinner before we left to get to know each other a little bit, and I’m excited.
The goal of the 49ers defensive line is to return to their dominant run-stopping ways. While the group still was ranked as one of the better groups in the league during their Super Bowl LVIII run last season, there were clear challenges.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers' front, which notoriously was very stingy against the run allowed 100 yards rushing or more in nine total games in 2023, including the playoffs. That total was tied with the team's 2020 defensive line after allowing only six in 2022 and eight in 2021.
With safety Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw both returning from season-ending injuries, the defensive line will look to shoulder more of the responsibility to stop opposing offenses with new pieces stepping in at the second and third level.
Bosa and the 49ers hope they have the right combination in the trenches.