Despite an Ohio State loss Saturday night in Happy Valley, the Buckeye football program can still hang its hat on alums performing at an elite level in the NFL.
Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys were off last week, but Joey Bosa posted another two-sack game (remember when the San Diego Chargers squabbled with him over peanuts and tanked a third of his season?) and Mike Thomas posted his first career 100-yard game with the New Orleans Saints.
Given Elliott's already historic pace, it was more of what Chargers and Saints fans had come to expect from their rookies. As such, it's no surprise to find all three former Buckeyes in Pro Football Focus' Top 10 rookies entering Week 8:
| RANK | PLAYER | POSITION | TEAM | COMMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | RB | COWBOYS | "The only real flaw in his game at the moment is that his 11 broken tackles are only the 21st-most in the league; with his vision and decisiveness, however, that really isn’t an issue." |
| 5 | JOEY BOSA | DE | CHARGERS | "He’s racking up pressures at a higher rate than Von Miller has this season; over the last three weeks, Bosa has been responsible for 20 total pressures, the second-most in the league over that span." |
| 6 | MIKE THOMAS | WR | SAINTS | "Over the past two weeks, he has the fourth-highest receiving grade in the league, with 208 yards and a touchdown in those games." |
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Presscot, Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz, and Tennessee Titan tackle Jack Conklin made up the Top 3.
Elliott, Bosa, and Thomas are all the highest rated players at their position.
