Overview
Position: Edge defender
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 263 pounds
School: Ohio State Buckeyes
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 4.79 seconds
Bench press: 29 reps
Vertical jump: 33.5 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 8 inches
Three-cone drill: 7.10 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.14 seconds (third best among defensive linemen)
Nick Bosa 2019 NFL Draft Profile
NFL bloodlines pervade Nick Bosa‘s family. Obviously, his older brother Joey has made a name for himself as a premier pass rusher in his three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers thus far. But it doesn’t end there. His father John and uncle, Eric Kumerow, were both first-round picks in the late 1980s. Even going back one more generation, you can find members of his family who boast NFL experience. Nick’s grandfather and great uncle, Palmer Pyle and Mike Pyle, played multiple seasons in the league as offensive linemen during the 1960s.
Much like his brother, Nick excelled as a defensive end at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in the Miami area. It led to him earning consensus five-star recruit status with Rivals rating him the number 21 overall prospect in 2016. In another similarity to Joey, Nick made the journey north to Columbus to play his college ball. He was part of a 2016 Ohio State recruiting class that included another player expected to go in the first round of this year’s draft, Dwayne Haskins.
Urban Meyer thrust Bosa into the ringer right off the bat, and he didn’t disappoint. He tallied five sacks and seven tackles for loss en route to ESPN Freshman All-American honors in his first season with the Buckeyes. The following year was his best in Scarlet and Gray. His 8.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss were both top five among Big Ten players. It resulted in him winning the Big Ten’s defensive lineman of the year in addition to earning first-team All-American honors from the AFCA. Bosa was on pace to put up big numbers once again in 2018. But he suffered a core muscle injury against TCU and later decided to withdraw from school to focus on the draft.
Strengths
- ideal size and overall frame for the position;
- burst off the snap can be described as incendiary;
- effortlessly pulls and jerks to disengage from blocker;
- knows how to uncoil his body as a means to achieve optimum leverage;
- quick and active hands that give blockers fits;
- phenomenal edge bender with outstanding agility and contact balance;
- pretty twitchy from the standpoint of lateral athleticism;
- can play upright or as a down lineman;
- a pure every-down player adept at defending both the run and pass;
- has the overall skill set to excel in any scheme.
Weaknesses
- tends to overly rely on finesse instead of unleashing power with bull rushes;
- sometimes stays glued to blocker rather than disengaging and attacking ball-carrier;
- played in a fairly vanilla defensive scheme;
- could incorporate more twists and stunts into his pass rushing repertoire;
- not much on tape suggesting he can drop into coverage when needed;
- slight issue with medicals given the recent core muscle injury that required surgery.
NFL Comparison: Myles Garrett
Teams With Need at Position: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins
Projection: Potential first overall pick
Bottom Line
In 2019, the Bosas will become the latest tandem of brothers playing in the NFL. The most prominent example is obviously J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt. But others include Tremaine Edmunds as well as Terrell Edmunds. What’s fascinating about it is that both siblings not only play defense. They’re employed in similar roles. For Nick, his path to possibly going number one overall is not unlike Joey who ended up going third. Both have similar skill sets in that they win with exceptionally active hands which makes it exceedingly difficult to opposing offensive linemen to effectively use theirs. They’re both also immensely athletic with phenomenal get-off after the snap. In Nick’s case, he has the opportunity to contribute immediately and it will not be surprising to see him getting starter reps on the opening day of the 2019 regular season.
