On the back of a 2014 NCAA season in which he posted 13.5 sacks and forced four fumbles, Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Joey Bosa is already viewed by many as a likely top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, set to be held in Chicago next April. While there's no denying the talent possessed by the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Bosa, it seems the media may have already gone overboard with their praise of the Buckeye pass-rusher after his promising freshmen season and breakout sophomore campaign and have left the future NFLer "overhyped" heading into the 2015 collegiate season, according to a report from Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com.
Per Campbell, while many general managers and scouts around the league view Bosa as a good prospect - something along the lines of Washington Redskins outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan - they don't believe he's "a No. 1 overall-caliber prospect." Bosa has, in the past, drawn comparisons to Houston Texans stud defensive lineman and once-in-a-generation player J.J. Watt.
"One scouting director said that in a strong draft year like the 2014 class, Bosa would be a pick in the 5-7 range after rare prospects like Jadeveon Clowney, Greg Robinson, Khalil Mack and Sammy Watkins," reports Campbell. "In a weaker year like 2015, they say if Bosa would have been able to come out, they believe he would have been the third-overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars."
Bosa, per Campbell's sources, is a better prospect than Florida pass-rusher Dante Fowler, who went third-overall to the Jags and promptly tore his ACL during the team's first offseason practice. The source also indicated that Bosa is viewed as a better pro prospect than New York Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams and lithe Atlanta Falcons end Vic Beasley.
"That scouting director said that how highly Bosa gets drafted depends a lot on the other players in the draft and the quarterbacks, especially," Campbell writes.
With the top of the 2016 NFL Draft likely set to be chock full of potentially elite signal-callers, including Penn State's Christian Hackenburg, Michigan State's Connor Cook and potentially OSU's own Cardale Jones, Bosa's appeal to teams may not be strong enough to land him in the top-5 or even the top-10 next April.
Of course, Bosa has already been suspended for the first game of the Buckeye's 2015 season for an undisclosed transgression, so his stock may be even lower than it previously was. Still, there's no denying the talents the big defender possesses - talents that may not line up perfectly with a guy like Watt, but seem well-reflected in the talents of a very good, if not great, player like Kerrigan.
"That scouting director said he sees a lot of Ryan Kerrigan when watching Bosa, as they are both good pass rushers and run-down defenders," writes Campbell. "Another general manager said that the Kerrigan comparison is very adept, and they see similarities between the two. However, another general manager said as players they are similar, but Kerrigan has been a high-character individual since college, and teams have concerns about Bosa in light of his suspension for the season opener."
Kerrigan, 6-foot-4, 260-pounds, was chosen 16th-overall by Washington in the 2011 NFL Draft. A college end, Kerrigan made the move to outside linebacker in the pros and has since posted four-straight seasons of over 54 tackles, 7.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. Last year, he managed a career-high 13.5 sacks, 64 tackles and five forced fumbles.
Of course, there's every chance that Bosa, performing as a vital cog for a Buckeyes defense and team looking to repeat as National Champs, could go out this season and prove these unnamed GM's and scouts wrong, but it seems that for the time being at least, it may be best to pump the brakes on talk of Bosa as a potential No. 1 prospect.
