Bosa to withdraw from Ohio State, focus on draft

Ohio State junior defensive end Nick Bosa will withdraw from school to rehab an injury and prepare for the 2019 NFL Draft, the school announced Tuesday.

Bosa suffered a "core muscle injury" against TCU on Sept. 15 and underwent surgery five days later. At the time, coach Urban Meyer said he hoped "to get him back as soon as possible."

Bosa is expected to be in the mix to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. He is No. 2, behind Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, on the Big Board of NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Rob Rang.

"I was hopeful that Nick would be able to return to play again for us," Meyer said in Tuesday's statement.

"I know this was an extremely difficult and emotional decision for Nick and his family, and I wish him well as he moves on to get himself 100 percent healthy and ready for his next chapter. I want to thank Nick for the remarkable efforts he gave for this program. He is a first-class young man who we have been honored to coach."

Bosa, while playing in three games this season, had 14 tackles, including six for loss and four sacks.

Bosa last season was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, an award his older brother Joey won twice as a defensive end for the Buckeyes. Joey was the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

According to Rang: "While perhaps slightly shorter than Joey, Nick offers a similar blend of power, technique, functional athleticism and instincts, making him arguably the safest NFL prospect in the country and a good bet to at least match Joey's No. 3 overall selection two years ago."

Nick Bosa (6-foot-4, 263 pounds) had 13.5 sacks and 23 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at Ohio State, despite being limited as a true freshman as he was coming off an ACL injury suffered during his senior year at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas.