Ohio State Defensive End Joey Bosa is the safest and most legitimate NFL prospect playing in the nation right now. Or at least he was, until his suspension for the 2015 season opener was announced Thursday morning. Ohio State made this announcement, giving no reason for the suspension, just hours before Big Ten Media Days began, so naturally, Buckeyes Coach Urban Meyer was drilled about this during his podium session (as he should be).
And of course, Meyer said nothing informative. This is what he does. He’s a professional. Meyer has been running damage control and covering up the malfeasance of his players for 15-20 years. So what happened with Joey Bosa today is not that big of a deal.
A source told ESPN that the suspensions (three other Ohio State players were suspended along with Bosa) were due to either marijuana or academics.
So in other words, reading the ESPN story accomplished way more than any of the questions and answers with Meyer or any of the Ohio State players regarding Joey Bosa today at Media Day. So how will this affect his NFL Draft stock? Just ask Randy Gregory or Shane Ray.
Or not. Those guys had their marijuana infraction very close to the NFL Draft, while what happened today could be ancient history come draft season. Maybe Jameis Winston is a much better comparison than Gregory or Ray. Everyone left Winston’s draft stock for dead last October (deservedly so), and all he did was go #1 overall.
Clearly, it’s better to get trouble early than it is late. So while today will give Bosa his first ever character red flag, it’s not that huge of a deal in the long run.
The Big Ten didn’t have anyone taken in the top ten between 2008-2014. (Although they did provide the 11th overall selection in both 2013 and in 2009, before finally ending the streak this past April). Joey Bosa could be the league’s first #1 overall pick since Jake Long went first overall out of Michigan in ’08. The man who claimed the 2014 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award could be this year’s Jadeveon Clowney. In 2014, Bosa had 50 tackles with 13.5 sacks, 20 tackles for a loss and four forced fumbles during the regular season.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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