The Cardinals could have had Nick Bosa. They chose Kyler Murray.
The 49ers selected Bosa with the second overall choice.
It seems to have worked out well for everyone except Josh Rosen.
Bosa has seven sacks, three behind the league leaders, has defensive rookie of the year wrapped up, barring injury, and is a candidate for defensive player of the year.
Who knows what would have happened had Bosa gone to Arizona, which plays a 3-4 rather than the 49ers’ 4-3?
“I was buying into it,” Bosa said of playing in a 3-4, via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com. “There’s good things that you can do with it, and I’m sure I would have gotten into it in time. But I think for my full potential to be reached, I think I’m in the right place, in the right defense.”
Bosa gets his first chance to chase Murray on Thursday.
He is at home in the 49ers’ defense, and Murray is at home in the Cardinals’ offense. And unlike the quarterback who preceded Murray at Oklahoma, Bosa doesn’t seem to have an issue with Murray.
So he probably won’t celebrate with a flag plant.