Nick Bosa is top prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft, though by only a slim margin over Josh Allen, says Mel Kiper Jr.
Despite missing Ohio State's final 11 games with a core muscle injury, Bosa has remained atop most mock drafts, including Kiper's, where Bosa is the top pick in his Mock Draft 2.0. At No. 2 is Allen, a player who didn't miss one game during his entire four-year career.
"If the Niners don't trade down to add more picks, I expect them to take an edge rusher here. And Allen (6-5, 250) is just a step behind Bosa on my board," wrote Kiper in his Mock Draft 2.0.
How big is that "step?" And is there any chance Allen can make up ground before April?
"Bosa is the guy," Kiper told HERO Sports this week. "The only thing with Bosa is the durability. If it wasn't for the injury his senior year in high school and the injury this year, he wouldn't be close to [Allen]."
Bosa suffered a torn ACL near the end of his senior season at St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), where he was a five-star recruit and the top-ranked strong-side defensive end in the 2016 class (247Sports). He recovered in time to record five sacks and seven tackles for loss as a true freshman in 2016 and added 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2017.
Allen, meanwhile, is a former two-star recruit who racked up 31.5 sacks and 41 tackles for loss in four seasons at Kentucky. Now, he's the second-ranked player on Kiper's board.
"People say trade out of there," he said, referencing the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets, who hold the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, respectively. "If you trade out of there, you're taking yourself out of the Josh Allen situation. I don't think the 49ers or the Jets would wanna do that. You move out of three, you don't get Josh Allen at three. And I'm not convinced he'll be there at three."
The gap is small, but Nick Bosa is still "the guy."
