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Three former Buckeyes make PFF top 25 under 25 list

Nick Bosa was the highest-ranking Buckeye on the list, at No. 4.
Nick Bosa was the highest-ranking Buckeye on the list, at No. 4. (Scott Stuart)

Professional development is a cornerstone of the Ohio State football program, and it has the all-time first-round NFL draft pick record to prove it.

If any further evidence was required to prove that claim, look no further than last week’s Pro Football Focus top 25 NFL players under 25 list, which features several Buckeyes in the top 12 slots alone.

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young and Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward each charted in the top half of the list, with all three former Buckeyes being drafted no earlier than 2018.

At No. 4 on the list, Bosa ranked highest among former Ohio State players, having won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2019 before suffering a season-ending injury early in 2020.

“We have only seen one year of Nick Bosa in the NFL, with injury robbing us of an encore last season. Still, that one year was devastating,” PFF wrote. “Bosa notched 80 total pressures as a rookie, breaking the PFF rookie record. He was still cooking by the Super Bowl, too, where he notched 12 pressures in a losing effort to try and contain Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.”

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Bosa was picked No. 2 overall in the 2019 draft, just like fellow prolific Buckeye pass rusher Chase Young the following year, and the pair’s early careers in the NFL have seen quite a similar trajectory thus far.

Young, who won this past year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year honor, came in at No. 7 on PFF’s list, and the record-setting former Buckeye received no shortage of praise from the outlet.

“Young was the best edge rusher prospect in PFF College history, and our college pass-rush grades have proved to be extremely reliable when it comes to predicting success at the next level,” PFF wrote. “Young backed up his college performance with an impressive rookie year despite injury briefly slowing him down. He was a top-10-graded edge rusher in Year 1; he could be a superstar in Year 2.”

Young isn't much lower than Bosa on the PFF list, coming in at No. 7.
Young isn't much lower than Bosa on the PFF list, coming in at No. 7. (Scott Stuart)

The third and final former Buckeye entered the list at No. 12, as Ward enters his fourth year in the NFL after being selected No. 4 overall by the Browns back in the 2018 draft.

Ward has already been named to a Pro Bowl in his short pro career so far, and if he continues playing at the level he has exhibited in Cleveland, it won’t be his last.

“The Cleveland secondary needed a lot of help last season, but one player who was holding up his end of the bargain was Denzel Ward, who has become one of the hardest players in the league to beat,” PFF wrote. “Ward has broken up 19 passes over the past two seasons and hasn’t been beaten for a pass longer than 31 yards in two of his three years in the NFL.”

The top three spots on the list were occupied by 49ers linebacker and former BYU Cougar Fred Warner at No. 1, Baltimore Ravens QB and former NFL MVP and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson at No. 2, and Tennessee Titans wideout A.J. Brown at No. 3.

A handful of other Big Ten players made the list as well, with former Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs coming in at No. 9, former Maryland wide receiver D.J. Moore entering the list at No. 14, former Michigan OL Michael Onwenu slotting in at No. 20, and two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor making the list at No. 21.

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