Despite a core muscle injury that required surgery, Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa is still the top prospect for the 2019 NFL Draft, according to Bleacher Report's Matt Miller.
Bosa suffered the injury in the third quarter of Ohio State's eventual win over TCU in Week 3. He didn't return to the game and, five days later, was ruled out indefinitely following surgery. Following the Buckeyes' win over Tulane in Week 4, Urban Meyer said Bosa would miss at least "a few more weeks." And then earlier this week, Bosa's dad said his son's absence would be longer.
"Coach Meyer is going to get peppered with these questions and he basically said it’s a few weeks, but it’s worth me at least clarifying that it’s not a few weeks,” John Bosa told The Athletic. “Nick had major surgery. Now, he had surgery with the best surgeon for the core on the planet [Dr. William C. Meyers in Philadelphia] and it’s 100 percent fixable, which is the beauty of it, but he’s not even getting re-evaluated until November.”
That would suggest Bosa, a 6-foot-4, 236-pound junior who has 77 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 17 sacks in 30 career games, could miss the entire regular season. In addition to wondering how his absence will impact Ohio State's defense, how might the injury and surgery impact his draft stock?
It hasn't, says Miller, who still had Bosa atop his 2019 NFL Draft Big Board on Friday, Sept. 28.
"No team polled about Bosa's stock believed this injury or rehab would affect his status as the top player in the class," he wrote.
Bosa and Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver are the only players in Miller's Tier 1.
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