Joey Bosa

Joseph Anthony Bosa (/ˈboʊsə/; born July 11, 1995) is an American professional football defensive end. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected third overall by the then San Diego Chargers in the 2016 NFL draft, where he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is the son of former NFL player John Bosa and the older brother of current NFL player Nick Bosa.

Bosa attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he played high school football and basketball for the Raiders. He was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the fourth best defensive end in his class. Bosa committed to play college football at Ohio State University in April 2012.

As a true freshman in 2013, Bosa started 10 of 14 games, recording 44 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He was named a Freshman All-American by the Sporting News and College Football News. In 2014, Bosa was named a Unanimous All-American, becoming the 27th Buckeye in 84 years to do so. He finished his sophomore year with 13.5 sacks on 55 tackles. He earned Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

On July 30, 2015, it was announced that Bosa would be suspended from the first game of the 2015 season with three other Ohio State football players for undisclosed reasons. During his junior year, Bosa finished with five sacks and an interception on 47 tackles. On December 31, 2015, he announced his intentions to enter the 2016 NFL draft. During the 2016 Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame on January 1, 2016, Bosa was ejected in the first quarter for a targeting penalty when he made a hit on quarterback DeShone Kizer. Ohio State won the Bowl game by a score of 44–28. After his junior season, he entered the 2016 NFL draft.

Bosa was a highly decorated Buckeye receiving National and Conference honors beginning his freshman year. In 2013, Bosa was named a first-team Freshman All-American as well as selected to the Freshman All-Big Ten first-team. In 2014, his sophomore year, he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Lineman of the Year, First-team All-American, and All-Big Ten, as well as a Lombardi Award finalist. He repeated most of the honors his Junior year, falling short of claiming the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.

In March 2016, Bosa was projected to be a top 10 pick in the 2016 NFL draft by NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Bosa received an invitation to the NFL Combine as a top prospect in the upcoming draft. He completed all of the required combine drills and also participated in positional drills. Bosa met and interviewed with 13 NFL teams at the combine, including the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans. His overall performance at the combine was thought by scouts to be impressive.

Bosa was selected in the first round with the third overall selection by the San Diego Chargers. He was the first of five Ohio State players to be drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft, followed by Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple, Taylor Decker, and Darron Lee.

Bosa missed the first four weeks of the season due to a hamstring injury. On October 9, Bosa made his regular season debut against AFC West rival Oakland Raiders. Although Bosa only played 27 snaps, he finished the game with two sacks, a hit, and four hurries. The following game against the Denver Broncos, he had one quarterback hit, five hurries, and a stop while also drawing double teams throughout the game. Bosa was named Defensive Rookie of the Month for October. Despite being limited to 12 games, Bosa finished his rookie year with 41 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. He was ranked as the 100th best player in the league by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.