Bryant Young stands alone in the 49ers' record books, and his name might never be eclipsed when it comes to the franchise's all-time sack record.
Through 14 seasons with the 49ers, Young tallied an incredible 89.5 sacks, a number that might never be broken. Charles Haley is next on the list at 66.5. No current 49er is even in the same zip code as Young, with Arik Armstead trailing the mark by 70.5 sacks.
Young, who will be inducted into the 49ers Hall of Fame this season, thought Aldon Smith, who notched 44 sacks in his first four seasons with the 49ers, had a chance before off-field issues derailed his career. Young does see one player on the current roster who might have a chance to break his mark, though.
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“Aldon, unfortunately, he didn’t finish his career with the 49ers, but he was a guy heading that way (to atop the sack list),” Young said in a conference call with reporters, via Cam Inman of The Mercury News. “Now there are guys like Nick Bosa and a couple others that have the ability.”
Bosa was a monster during his rookie season with the 49ers. He recorded nine sacks and 25 quarterback hits last season, finishing with 45 pressures and 24 hurries. He has a deep arsenal of pass rush moves and only is made better by the 49ers' glut of talent on the defensive line. Should Bosa stay healthy and play a long career with the 49ers, there's certainly a chance he knocks Young from the top spot one day.
If Bosa were to average nine sacks a year, he would break Young's record in 2029, assuming he stays healthy and still is terrorizing quarterbacks in Santa Clara.
It wouldn't surprise Young is someone eventually broke his record, as unlikely as that might seem.
San Francisco 49ers
"In this day and age, anybody is capable of passing and breaking records," Young said. "They're there as a benchmark to achieve more. Definitely there are guys with potential to succeed that. We'll just sit back, eat our popcorn and see what happens."
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Young's calling card with the 49ers was his strength, he got the 49ers to procure 200-pound dumbbells for their weight room so he could continue to get stronger later in his career. He's also the only defensive lineman in franchise history to play over 200 games for the 49ers.
His benchmark will be a hard one to eclipse, but Bosa has the talent and time to make an assault on the record books.
After all, he's just 22 years old and should only get better.