Nick Bosa is good to go

CHICAGO – While the news of Joey Bosa's contract holdout with the San Diego Chargers makes big news on the NFL beat, the start of little brother Nick Bosa's career at Ohio State is making waves throughout the Woody Hayes Athletic Center around the Buckeyes program.

Bosa was one of Ohio State's two five-stars in the class of 2016 (along with Keandre Jones) and one of the most recognizable names of the recruiting cycle. There was not a lot of drama at the end of the day in the minds of Ohio State fans where the younger Bosa was going to end up, but it was a huge sigh of relief when he did make his pledge and subsequently sign with the Buckeyes.

Bosa did suffer a setback however when he sustained an ACL injury in November of his senior season. Bosa's high school career was cut short and of course attention turned to what would the talented defensive lineman's college career look like in terms of a debut date.

The recovery has gone well for Bosa and it appears that he will be ready for action when the Buckeyes open fall camp in a matter of days. That does not mean that the Buckeyes won't keep an eye on Bosa's surgically repaired knee but they still have big plans for him this season.

Nick Bosa from March of 2016 talking about his rehab from his torn ACL

"(Bosa will be) ready to go. We are going to have a pitch count on him," head coach Urban Meyer said at Big Ten Media Days. "By pitch count, I mean just every rep is going to be counted and see where he is at. That is where our strength coach does a phenomenal job."

The defensive line will already be returning players like Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes in 2016 but the Ohio State coaches know that if Nick is anywhere as good as Joey, he probably will not be in Columbus for four years.

"(I) can't wait. Larry Johnson is the one that I have got to calm down," Meyer joked. "(Nick) is much more mature than Joey was when we first got him. Joey is a freak of nature, I still don't know if we have that yet, I will see pretty soon. His maturity level and ability to communicate and all of that, he is a very mature person."

With Bosa wearing his big brother's familiar No. 97, it will look the same on the field to the casual fan when Nick enters the game. What do his teammates think about all of that?

"It will be different but we all knew he was coming here," offensive center Pat Elflein said. "He is a good dude and he is pretty much just like Joey is. Walks, talks, acts like him. He is big and a freak in the weight room. He is really strong. It will be fun to see another Bosa out there, I am sure he will be a good player for us."

It is easy to draw the comparisons just from one or two conversations with each of the players or watching their high school film but the coaching staff knows that each player possesses different traits at this point of their development going into their freshman seasons.

"Joey was introverted, this guy is not," Meyer said. "This guy is very mature. I don’t want to take a shot at Joey at all, because I love Joey, but they are just different people. Joey was somewhat of a loner and a goofball, if that is a word. Nick is a little more mature. Joey became a man's man but when he first got there, and mom and dad would tell you, was a different guy. Turned out pretty good."

The biggest thing will not for people to expect Nick to come out in his first game and pick up where Joey left before his career ended in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame.

"I remember that we had a little group text with the mom and dad and (Joey) and Nick and something where I was saying how good he was doing and Joey (said to) be patient and I said simply said 'No'. His dad got a kick out of that. No patience," Meyer said with a smile.