Meet Joey Bosa, the 2016 NFL Draft's Top DE Heading into Next Season
If you’re looking to make a safe bet on a player being a top-five pick in the 2016 NFL draft, no one has better odds than Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa.
Going into the 2015 season, Bosa projects as the top defensive end eligible for the 2016 draft, and he very well might be the top prospect at any position.
Even within an Ohio State class of draft-eligible prospects that could be one of the best ever, Bosa’s talent stands out.
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Just two seasons into his career for the Buckeyes, Bosa has accumulated 99 total tackles, including 34.5 tackles for loss and 21 sacks, along with four forced fumbles.
| Year | Total Tackles | Tackles for Loss | Sacks | Forced Fumbles |
| 2013 | 44 | 13.5 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 2014 | 55 | 21.0 | 13.5 | 4 |
Those statistics are great by themselves—Bosa ranked fifth nationally in sacks and tied for fifth in tackles for loss in 2014—but even more impressive within the context provided by watching his game tape. Even though opponents regularly game-planned against him with double-team blocking and/or running the ball away from him, Bosa still managed to accumulate big numbers.
Bosa was one of 12 unanimous All-Americans in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014, and one of only two—the other being Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III—who is back in college football for at least one more year.
At 6’6” and 275 pounds, Bosa has ideal measurables for the defensive end position. He has a combination of size, athleticism, strength, skill and versatility that could ultimately put him in contention to be the No. 1 overall pick—or at least the first non-quarterback off the board—next spring.
Well-Roundedness Makes Bosa a Top Prospect
Bosa does not have any one trait that truly stands out above his competition; what makes him special is that he brings a litany of positive qualities together into a complete package.
Physically, Bosa is able to overmatch most of his opponents at the collegiate level. That edge will diminish against NFL offenses. What makes his game so translatable to the next level is that unlike many physically gifted collegiate players, Bosa does not simply rely upon his tools, but he builds upon them with pro-caliber technique.
As a pass-rusher, Bosa already utilizes a wide variety of moves to work his way off blocks. Rips, swims and spins are all part of the arsenal Bosa uses to get to the quarterback, while he also has the size and power to move offensive tackles backward on bull rushes.
Bosa’s long arms increase his ability to execute those moves effectively against blockers, while he also possesses the ability to sidestep his way around blocks, like he (No. 97) did on the following play against Michigan before placing a hit on quarterback Devin Gardner that created an interception.
All of those traits and skills enable Bosa to make up for the fact that he lacks the elite first-step quickness and ability to turn the corner of a prototypical edge-rusher. Bosa cannot simply blow by blockers with his speed, but he is able to free himself from blocks in many ways, and once he does, he exhibits a dangerous closing burst.
Even against better offensive tackles in the NFL, Bosa’s ability to work his way through or around blocks should enable him to continue to compile pass-rushing production from the edge.
Where Bosa can really be at his best, though, is as an interior pass-rusher. While the 5-technique defensive end position in a 3-4 scheme might be Bosa’ most natural NFL fit, he could also excel in a 4-3 alignment where he plays defensive end in base packages but shifts inside to play 3-technique defensive tackle in pass-rushing situations.
Used in this manner by Ohio State in some pass-rushing packages, Bosa has proven to be a dangerous playmaker from the interior.
It was from that alignment that Bosa made arguably his most memorable and important play of the 2014 season. With Penn State needing to convert a 4th-and-6 in double overtime, Bosa shot through the B-gap between the left tackle and left guard, then bulldozed straight through Nittany Lions running back Akeel Lynch to sack quarterback Christian Hackenberg and end the game.
The following clip from Ohio State’s win over Maryland is another example of how dangerous Bosa can be as an inside rusher. After throwing a quick swim move on the inside of Terrapins left guard Silvano Altamirano, Bosa accelerated with speed to quarterback C.J. Brown and buried him for an eight-yard sack.
Of course, Bosa is more than just a pass-rusher. He also has all the tools to be a top-notch run defender.
When Bosa stays in his lane, he demonstrates great strength at the point of attack. He consistently holds his ground on the line of scrimmage, and he is able to combine his strength with his hand skills to stack and shed blockers for run stops, like he did on the following play in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama right tackle Austin Shepherd to get to running back Derrick Henry.
An attack-minded player, Bosa can use the same skills that empower him as a pass-rusher to blow up running plays behind the line of scrimmage. The following play from the Maryland game is a good example, as Bosa went through the inside of one blocker with a swim move, then fought through the outside of another blocker to pursue Terrapins running back Brandon Ross and tackle him for a four-yard loss.
As you can see in the clips above, Bosa is a strong tackler. When he has a free shot at a ball-carrier, he typically finishes the play, as he employs consistent form in wrapping up his opponent and driving his weight through the tackle.
The one flaw that is readily apparent in Bosa’s game, especially in run defense, is that in his efforts to make big plays, he too often vacates running lanes and leaves wide-open space for runners to take advantage.
One example of Bosa making that mistake can be seen in the following play: a two-yard rushing touchdown by Maryland’s Brandon Ross. With the B-gap open inside him, and linebacker Joshua Perry blitzing to his outside, Bosa should have slid inside to put himself in position to stop the run. Instead, Bosa tried to attack around the outside, leaving a large opening for Ross to stroll through to the end zone.
His tendency to vacate lanes and try to win around the outside can be especially problematic against quarterbacks with running ability. The play below, also from the Maryland game, is an example of that.
Bosa’s effort on the play as a pass-rusher is admirable, as he put a strong swim move around the right guard’s outside to bring some pressure into the pocket. That said, his action also exhibited poor awareness. With linebacker Darron Lee rushing around the outside, Bosa needed to stay in his rush lane to contain quarterback Caleb Rowe in the pocket. By maneuvering outside, Bosa left the middle of the field wide open for Rowe to pull down and run for a 4th-and-5 conversion.
As Bosa moves forward to the next level, where it will be more difficult for him to make big plays around the outside, he must play with better discipline in sticking to his assignments, especially when going up against dual-threat quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton.
NFL scouts and decision-makers will want to see improvement from Bosa in that regard in his upcoming junior season. But because that is the only flaw that regularly shows up in his game, and it is a coachable problem that he can be taught to fix, it is unlikely to stop anyone looking for a defensive difference-maker from using one of the top picks in the 2016 draft to select him.
The Next J.J. Watt?
It goes without saying that every team in the NFL would like to have its own version of Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year who has become the most dominant player at any position in the league.
It should also go without saying that players like Watt don’t simply come around in the draft every year. Yet the expectation has already been set, by ESPN’s Todd McShay, among others, that Bosa could be an NFL team’s chance to draft Watt’s second coming.
“I'm not saying he looks like the current J.J. Watt, NFL MVP candidate, but how Watt looked when he was a young player with the Badgers,” McShay wrote last October. “Bosa's stats from his first year at Ohio State are remarkably similar to Watt's first year at Wisconsin in 2009. Bosa possesses good size, length and versatility and is an effective pass-rusher with a good motor.”
Realistically, Bosa is not quite as explosive and powerful as Watt, and he is unlikely to reach the same heights to which Watt has risen. A future Hall of Famer if he keeps it up, Watt is actually more dominant at the NFL level than Bosa has been against collegiate competition, which means Bosa still has a long way to go in his development if he is ever going to make the same impact Watt does on a weekly basis.
With that being said, Bosa does not have to be Watt’s equal to justify being one of the top picks in the 2016 draft. Barring an injury or a significant dropoff in performance this upcoming season, Bosa almost certainly will be.
Much like Jadeveon Clowney and other similarly hyped prospects before him, Bosa will face heavy scrutiny every time he takes the field this year. His mistakes will be nitpicked in every game as draft debaters look for reasons to keep the discussion around his draft stock interesting and in flux throughout the season.
One trait that will likely be pinpointed as a reason for a potential fall will be his 40-yard dash time, which will likely be between 4.7 to 4.9 seconds, and slower than those of some of the draft class’ other top pass-rushers. Truly, Bosa does not need to run a blazing 40 time to be a great NFL player—after all, Watt’s 40 time at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine was only 4.84 seconds—but it will nonetheless became part of the draft discussion, as it inevitably does every year.
While Bosa could go No. 1 overall, he will have some legitimate competition just to be the first defensive end off the board.
The one defensive end who truly has the talent to potentially surpass Bosa on draft boards is Ole Miss junior Robert Nkemdiche. Ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 player in the high school class of 2013, Nkemdiche is a tremendous physical specimen, listed at 6’4” and 296 pounds, while he is also an explosive athlete.
Nkemdiche currently plays defensive tackle for the Rebels, but as Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller noted in May (via Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee), Nkemdiche could be a “Mario Williams- or Julius Peppers-like” defensive end in the NFL. Going into the 2015 season, however, Nkemdiche has not had nearly as much production as Bosa, and his game is not as polished.
Baylor’s Shawn Oakman is another defensive end prospect who has immense physical upside but needs to improve significantly to be successful in the NFL. Oakman arguably has a higher ceiling than Bosa, but his floor at this point is much, much lower.
Although Bosa is more than capable of making the transition to play 5-technique defensive end, another prospect who will likely be ranked highly by 3-4 teams is Oregon’s DeForest Buckner, who was the most productive and impressive defensive end last season on a team that also included Arik Armstead, the 2015 draft’s No. 17 overall pick.
To this point, there have not been any true outside speed-rushers among draft-eligible prospects who have emerged as potential competition to Bosa’s standing at the top. That said, other players who could factor into the first-round conversation at defensive end include Oklahoma State’s Emmanuel Ogbah, Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun and Virginia Tech’s Dadi Nicolas, though Nicolas might only project as a 3-4 outside linebacker due to a lack of size.
All of that said, it would be a surprise if when the dust settles, Bosa does not ultimately emerge as a top pick. None of those prospects currently have a skill set as translatable to the NFL as Bosa does, and while he might have a few athletic limitations, he has as much potential to be an All-Pro at the next level as any player in college football.
Bosa, who will still be just 20 years old when the 2015 college football season begins, still has plenty of time to refine his game and continue to get even better than he already is, before the draft even rolls around.
If he wanted to, Bosa could stay at Ohio State for his senior year and wait on the NFL until the 2017 draft. That would come as a huge surprise, however, given the wide-ranging projections that he will be a top selection.
Asked about the potential of moving forward to the NFL prior to last season's Sugar Bowl, Bosa said he felt at the time that he still needed at least one more year at Ohio State to continue improving.
"I think I really need another year," Bosa said in December, according to Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com. "I want to see how much I can progress next year."
Many others—including college football coaches and pro scouts—believe Bosa could make the jump to the NFL right now.
"He's as good as advertised as you see on film," an anonymous Big Ten offensive line coach told Bruce Feldman of FoxSports.com. "He's very explosive. He's physical at the point of attack in the run game, and he's a very skilled pass rusher."
According to Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage (h/t Mike Huguenin of NFL Media), NFL teams had already started using Bosa as a measuring stick for offensive line prospects prior to the 2014 draft, which came before Bosa's All-American campaign last season.
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Bosa as the No. 1 overall prospect on his preseason big board for the 2016 draft.
"John Bosa was the No. 3-ranked defensive end in my 1987 draft guide coming out of Boston College and eventually went No. 17 overall to Miami," Kiper wrote, referring to Bosa's father, who played three years in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins. "I'd put No. 17 overall on the low end of any projections for his son."
This article is part of a series on the projected top prospects at each position for the 2016 NFL draft. Also read:
All GIFs were made at Gfycat using videos from Draft Breakdown and YouTube.
Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL Draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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