College Football
Player Profile: Nick Bosa
Defensive end Nick Bosa is not the first member of his family to look to a career in the NFL. He is not even the first in his family to get there via Ohio State University. But that doesn’t make his dream any less real, or the drive to get there any less intense. In fact, I would argue it makes his drive more intense, because he has such big shoes to fill. Both his father John and his older brother Joey were first-round picks in their draft years, 1987 and 2016 respectively. Nick is looking to join the other members of his family, and in order to do that he has to be pretty good. Which means he has to work pretty hard. But that doesn’t seem to bother him.
College Career
Bosa’s stats from his first two years at Ohio State are pretty impressive. As a true freshman defensive end, he played in all 13 games. Of his 29 tackles, 7 were for a loss. He also completed 5 sacks. In his sophomore year, he entered 7 games as the starting defensive end, recording 32 tackles and 7 sacks. 14.5 of his tackles were for a loss, and his 7 sacks led the team that year. In addition, he blocked a kick, broke up 2 passes and had 8 quarterback hurries. He seems to be well on his way to joining Dad and Big Bro in the pros.
Better than Big Bro
Nick Bosa had a distinct advantage that his older brother didn’t have. Joey was learning from college coaches while Nick was still in high school, and shared his wisdom, as big brothers are wont to do. Therefore, Nick entered college as a more advanced player than his brother did. The problem for Nick was that when he entered college, the defense at Ohio State was already pretty stacked. His numbers don’t reflect how good he is, which is saying something because his numbers are extremely impressive. He didn’t get as much playing time as Joey did in his true freshman year. Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes were already members of the team. Jonathan Cooper arrived on campus the same time Nick did. The team’s stats improved with all that talent, but individual stats did not.
Looking Forward
Nick Bosa vs Michigan’s Rashan Gary in The Game is always a treat, and this year will be no different. The two junior defensive ends will face off on November 24 in Columbus. Gary is the NFL’s number 3 ranked prospect, and these two have been projected to go one right after the other in the draft. This will be a very interesting season for both, although Bosa’s team is decidedly better.
Written by Susannah Schmidt
Follow us on Twitter @T101Sports and @T101SportsCFB
Follow me on Twitter @SusannahElyse
