In Focus: How Joey Bosa Stacks Up With Other Great Ohio State Defensive Ends

Urban Meyer's had his fair share of outstanding players in his career as a college football coach, one that spans over three states and four jobs.

The obvious ones are easy: quarterbacks Josh Harris, Tim Tebow, Alex Smith and now Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones, playmakers like Cole Magner, Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell, Riley Cooper, Chris Rainey and others. The list appears endless when you factor in the talent now available at Ohio State.

When it comes to defense, however, Meyer's never really had anyone like unanimous All-American defensive end Joey Bosa.

"I think he should be the best D-lineman in America," Meyer said Monday of Bosa, now just a junior. "He’s got a tremendous work ethic."

Meyer's had terrific players on the defensive side of the ball in his career — ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss still haunt the dreams of Buckeye fans — but none have the laundry list of laurels to even threaten Bosa.

He's only been in college for two years and cannot legally buy a drink yet — he doesn't turn 21 until Sept. 12 — but Bosa earned the nod as the Big Ten's Defensive Lineman and Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. He was a finalist for three of the most prestigious national defensive awards, including the Lombardi Trophy, the Bednarik Award and the Ted Hendricks Award, leading the Big Ten with 13.5 sacks and 21.0 tackles for loss.

You get the point.

Bosa's accomplishments would have made him a first round pick this month's NFL Draft if he was eligible, but the league mandates players be removed from high school at least three years before entering. He still has an excellent chance to go early in the 2016 NFL Draft, but Bosa believes his whole game needs a facelift.

"Just keep improving because obviously I can do better," Bosa said April 9. "I can always improve my game and we can win again so that’s always the goal."

It seems a little ridiculous to consider such a thing, but in terms of school records, the mammoth and fun-loving kid has some work to do to get on the Mount Rushmore of Ohio State defenders.

At 21.0 career sacks, he's 15 behind tying Mike Vrabel's school record of 36.0 set in 1996. He was a sack shy of setting a new program mark for sacks in a season, trailing Vernon Gholston's 14.0 set in 2007.

It'll take another out-of-this-world year to become just the second player in Ohio State history to break the career 30-sack barrier, but if anybody can do it, it's Bosa.

"The worst thing I can do is say, ‘He’s arrived.’ My job is to continue to improve him," defensive line coach Larry Johnson said April 9. "That’s what he wants. He wants to be a great player and great players want to find a way to improve and that’s what we have to get done."

Bosa's already a great player, considering he ranks seventh in program history among defensive ends in career sacks and has only played two seasons. Vrabel, Gholston and others posted their marks in three or four.

"He’s trying to take his game to the next level, which, we all know is very high," Meyer said. "It was very high at the end of the season."

Added Johnson: "He wants to make every play, which is great, a guy that wants to make every play, but we’ve gotta play within the defense and he’s starting to do a great job understanding that."

With all the hype that's already swirling around Bosa more than four months before the season opener at Virginia Tech Sept. 7, some wonder whether he should protect himself against injury to protect his draft stock. The top pick of last year's draft, Jadeveon Clowney, was even advised to sit out the 2013 season at South Carolina to guard against hurting himself.

"It will never happen," Johnson said, repeating it twice more. "Great players don’t shut down, great players go for it and that’s what you hope Joey will do. He understands and he’s working. Your leader’s gotta be your best worker and your best player. Right now, Joey Bosa’s our best player and he’s working so that’s not gonna stop."

Losing starters like Michael Bennett and Steve Miller hurt Ohio State on the defensive line, so the need for other players to step in and contribute will be crucial. Offense's figure to key on Bosa in 2015 — it only makes sense.

Staying within the scheme, though, could result in even more sacks.

"Watching the film I see that plays can just fall into my lap and as long as I’m doing my job I’ll make even more plays," Bosa said. "I see five or six sacks that I could have had because I went inside and he scrambled outside or something like that."

That's a scary thought, especially when you consider where he already ranks in Buckeye lore. That won't stop his head coach, the guy who's never had a player like Bosa on or off the field, from demanding more.

"I think it’s very simple: the best in the business," Meyer said.

He's well on his way.