An ACL tear for superstar defensive end Nick Bosa threw a sizable wrench into the San Francisco 49ers‘ plans for the 2025 season.

Bosa is the team’s top pass rusher on club that prioritizes its defensive line in its team build. Losing him is a massive blow for which San Francisco doesn’t have an answer in the way it did for the losses of quarterback Brock Purdy, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk or safety Malik Mustapha.

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Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call explained how the team plans to try and make up for such a seismic loss on the defensive front.

“You don’t just replace a guy like Nick,” Shanahan said. “It just puts, you know, everyone’s got to continue to get better at everything. It’s the same thing I’d be preaching if we did have Nick too. When you lose your better players, it gets harder, but I also expect throughout this year all of our players to get better as it goes. That’s stressed even that much more when you lose a great one like Nick. Lots of guys obviously will have to step it up as it goes, but I believe that’ll be more by committee than any individual.”

The 49ers don’t have a ton of experience or traditionally productive players at defensive end. Rookie Mykel Williams figures to see a bigger role, along with veteran Bryce Huff who has 22.0 sacks in 69 career games. Yetur Gross-Matos should see more time, but he has just 17.0 sacks in 69 games, and Sam Okuayinonu rounds out that group with 3.5 sacks in 25 games.

We’re unlikely to see the 49ers get anywhere near Bosa’s production with any combination of those DEs. What we’re more likely to see, barring a trade, is an uptick in blitz calls from defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and perhaps some schematic changes that put a greater onus on the linebackers and secondary in coverage.

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It’s not an easy spot to be in, but how the 49ers defense withstands Bosa’s absence will ultimately define their season.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Nick Bosa injury: How will the 49ers replace their star DE?