PHOENIX — Earlier this week, as reporters pried into Joey Bosa's plans for a potential NFL future, the Ohio State defensive lineman didn't talk about the topic, preferring to wait until after the Buckeyes' Friday Fiesta Bowl matchup with Notre Dame.
But with one day to go until Ohio State takes the field with the Fighting Irish at University of Phoenix Stadium, Bosa's head coach revealed what may have been his program's worst-kept secret.
"Three [players] have already said they’re going to leave," Urban Meyer answered when asked about the NFL draft at a Thursday press conference. "That’s Zeke, Joey and Cardale."
Independently, running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Cardale Jones had already publicly declared their intentions to forgo their final seasons of eligibility and enter next spring's NFL draft. And with all due respect to Buckeyes walk-on linebacker Joe Burger, there wasn't any confusion over which "Joey" Meyer was referring to.
Ever since he burst onto the scene with a dominating freshman campaign in 2013, Bosa's name has been linked to the NFL. It was a trend that gained steam with his unanimous All-American season in 2014 and maintained momentum with a strong showing this past year.
After all, it isn't often that opposing offenses are forced to triple-team a single player:
Bleacher Report Lead Draft Analyst Matt Miller projects the 6'6", 275-pounder to be picked eighth in the upcoming draft, while ESPN.com's Todd McShay has Bosa going first overall. This much, however, is clear: It won't take long for Bosa's name to come off the board next April 28.
But while where exactly the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native will land will be determined in the coming months, just one game remains for him to add to his already impressive legacy at Ohio State. In fact, even before Friday, one could make the argument that Bosa is already the best defensive player to ever play for the Scarlet and Gray.
Freshman Phenom
It's rare that a freshman makes an instant impact in his college career.
It's even rarer for a freshman defensive lineman to do so.
But that's exactly what Bosa did in 2013 for the Buckeyes, initially filling in as a rotational player before taking former 5-star prospect Adolphus Washington's starting spot at strong-side defensive end by season's end. A former 4-star prospect himself, Bosa tallied 44 tackles, 13.5 of which came for a loss, while tying Noah Spence for a team-high 7.5 sacks.
"He's just so strong," Meyer said of Bosa just a month into his college career. "Some guys are real strong and they don't use it. But he's a long-levered guy, and you can tell."
Registering at least a sack in each of the Buckeyes' final six games—including a 2.5-sack effort against Illinois on Nov. 16—Bosa had already made the case for being Ohio State's top defensive player as a true freshman. The Buckeyes defense ultimately faltered, losing games to Michigan State and Clemson to close the season, but there may not have been a better building block in the country at the time than the freshman All-American.
"He's an impact player. I've never really had a freshman defensive lineman—usually a corner or a receiver or even a running back can step in and play and all that," Meyer said. "His future is kind of silly around here if he keeps going."
Everybody's All-American
As it turned out, Meyer was right
"Silly" would probably be the best way to describe Bosa's sophomore season.
Coming within half a sack of Ohio State's single-season record, Bosa saw not a slump, but a sophomore surge, recording 55 tackles, 21 of which came for a loss, and 13.5 sacks. Not even his statistics told the whole story of the unanimous All-American's dominance, however, as he was simply unblockable at times in 2014.
Such was the case during a double-overtime win over Penn State in late October, when Bosa rushed through running back Akeel Lynch and into Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg, recording a game-winning sack unlike anything ever seen in college football:
"I was tired of trying to work my way around the back so I just ran him over," Bosa said afterward, his dry sense of humor and popular signature shrug celebration bringing personality to a usually nameless, faceless position.
As opponents were forced to consistently double-team Bosa, it likely wasn't a coincidence the Buckeyes defense only got better throughout its run through the first-ever College Football Playoff. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa missed out on national awards like the Lombardi and Nagurski, but he was the best player on college football's best team with at least one season left in his amateur career.
As Good as Advertised
After serving a one-game suspension to start his junior season, Bosa didn't register his first full sack until his fifth (the team's sixth) game of the year.
But anybody who watched him play instead of just checking box scores understood that any perceived lack of production from the Buckeyes star defensive end had more to do with how teams were playing him than any lack of effort.
"I'm night and day when I watch my skill set from last year to this year," Bosa said. "Just how I pass rush and play the run in all different aspects. I think there's not really one part of my game that I can look at and say I haven't gotten better at."
Advanced-stat site Pro Football Focus agreed, stating that the Sunshine State product's dominance in 2015 was "unmatched." His 47 tackles, 16 of which came for a loss, and five sacks may have been ho-hum compared to 2014, but his career-high 14 quarterback hurries indicated a player spending plenty of time in opposing backfields.
"Joey Bosa's as disruptive as any defensive player that I've been around," said Meyer, who saw 11 of his defensive linemen/linebackers selected in the NFL draft during his time at Florida and three more in his first three years at Ohio State. "He's playing very well."
Bosa has amassed 144 career tackles, 51 of which have come for a loss, and 26 sacks. Having played just three seasons, he likely won't find his name atop many lists in the Buckeyes record books, but Bosa will leave Columbus ranking at least fourth in both career tackles for loss and sacks.
More than that, you'd be hard-pressed to find a player who was more dominant from start to finish throughout his Ohio State career than Bosa was, at a premium position no less.
At a school that has seen players such as Antoine Winfield, A.J. Hawk, James Laurinaitis, Chris Spielman, Mike Doss and Cameron Heyward, that's no small feat. Bosa now has just one game left to continue to do what he's been doing since arriving on campus less than three years ago: stake his claim as the best defender in Buckeyes history.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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