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GMs, Scouts Believe Joey Bosa is Overhyped

Updated Aug. 27, 2015
By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.

Entering the 2015 college football season, one of the most hyped prospects is Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa. Some in the media are already rating Bosa as the No. 1 prospect for the 2016 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-6, 275-pounder produced 13.5 sacks and four forced fumbles to help the Buckeyes win the National Championship last season. The media went overboard, giving Bosa a ton of hype and comparing him to Houston Texans' superstar J.J. Watt.

In speaking with a few general managers and scouts, however, we've learned that NFL teams feel that Bosa is a good prospect, but they don't necessarily see him as a No. 1 overall-caliber prospect, and they feel he is more comparable to the Washington Redskins' Ryan Kerrigan.

One scouting director said that in a strong draft year like the 2014 class, Bosa would be a pick in the 5-7 range after rare prospects like Jadeveon Clowney, Greg Robinson, Khalil Mack and Sammy Watkins. In a weaker year like 2015, they say if Bosa would have been able to come out, they believe he would have been the third-overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They think that Bosa is a better prospect than Dante Fowler, whom the Jaguars took, Leonard Williams (6th overall to the Jets), or Vic Beasley (8th overall to Atlanta). That scouting director said that how highly Bosa gets drafted depends a lot on the other players in the draft and the quarterbacks, especially.

As far as Watt goes, our sources said that isn't a good comparison, as Watt is about 25 pounds heavier and is a different type of player. That scouting director said he sees a lot of Ryan Kerrigan when watching Bosa, as they are both good pass rushers and run-down defenders. Another general manager said that the Kerrigan comparison is very adept, and they see similarities between the two. However, another general manager said as players they are similar, but Kerrigan has been a high-character individual since college, and teams have concerns about Bosa in light of his suspension for the season opener.

One scout said that he didn't see Bosa as a top-of-the-draft talent and brought up how Watt went 11th-overall in 2011, while Kerrigan was the 16th-overall pick. Thus, Bosa enters his junior year as a heavy favorite to be a top-10 pick, but NFL evaluators do not believe he is as elite as the media hype suggests.

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