Mike McDaniel on Nick Bosa: You could easily argue that he’s the best pass rusher in the NFL

The numbers support McDaniel’s statement

Former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel returns to the Bay Area Sunday as his Miami Dolphins enter Week 13 on a 5-game winning streak, while the Niners come in having won four in a row.

McDaniel has gone out of his way to say Sunday is “just another game.”

McDaniel knows the 49ers roster inside and out. He knows their strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between.

Left tackle Terron Armstead has shown encouraging signs in his recovery from a pectoral strain, per McDaniel. Armstead won’t have surgery and hasn’t been ruled out, and he is telling people he’ll play Sunday. Austin Jackson played every snap last week but could be further from a return.

With that in mind, McDaniel was asked about his concern when it comes to facing Nick Bosa if neither of the Dolphins’ tackles would play Sunday. We received an answer that only McDaniel would give:

“If Nick Bosa has a pulse, you’re concerned. If he walks past you in the parking lot, you’re concerned. He’s one of the better players in the entire NFL. You could easily argue, many people have, and I think a lot of teams that have played him have, that he’s the best pass rusher in the NFL.

You always will encounter really good players, or elite players, on really good teams. That never fails. And so you always have to get used to playing teams with exceptional players. He’s going to make his plays. You try to do your best to minimize those with various things.

Every little detail, you have to be mindful of where he’s at and how he’s going about his business, regardless of who’s there. I think from an offensive staff perspective. You have to do your due diligence to try to minimize him as best you can, knowing that you’re never going to stop him, and he lives and breathes pass rushing.

When I was around him in San Francisco, he would do pass-rush moves on sanitizer. Like the little pods? Like, if you see like an object like this podium, he would do a pass rush move on it. (laughter) So that’s just who he is. But there’s always going to be challenges and I’m excited to go ahead and have our team go against really quality players and give it our best shot and see what we got.”

When you look at counting stats, Bosa leads the league in sacks and is second in quarterback hits. When you adjust for attempts, Bosa is still first in sack percentage and second in hit percentage. Bosa’s getting pressure at a league-high 17.8 percent of the time, per Sports Info Solutions — a hilariously high number.