From 1994 through 2007, a dominant force patrolled the San Francisco 49ers' defensive line: Bryant Young.
During his 14 seasons with the club, Young amassed 89.5 sacks, making four Pro Bowl appearances and earning a First-Team All-Pro selection.
No other player in 49ers history has gotten to the quarterback as much as Young.
However, the Bay Area legend feels that records are meant to broken:
“In this day and age, anybody is capable of passing and breaking records,” Young said, according to Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News. “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.”
Aldon Smith looked like a potential candidate to shatter Young's mark when he began his NFL career almost a decade ago, but off-the-field issues thwarted his San Francisco tenure after just four seasons.
But Young sees a current 49ers defensive lineman who can potentially pass him: Nick Bosa.
“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. “Now there are guys like Nick Bosa and a couple others that have the ability.”
Bosa was taken with the second overall pick by San Francisco last spring and played in every game during his rookie campaign, racking up 47 tackles, nine sacks, a forced fumble and a pair of fumble recoveries.
Obviously, the Ohio State product has a long way to go to catch Young, but perhaps he can be the guy to ultimately supplant Young for No. 1 on the Niners' all-time sack list.
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