Joey Bosa’s numbers are down from last season, but his influence for the Buckeyes has been undeniable for anybody watching him in action. 0 Shares print Award season has arrived, and the Big Ten is well represented across the country in the race for hardware. Ahead of the ceremonies, our ESPN.com reporters who cover the league are sizing up the chances for the players in contention for the game’s most famous trophies — and in certain cases making the argument for why they should win. Award: The Rotary Lombardi Award presented to the nation’s top lineman Finalists: Ohio State DE Joey Bosa, Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett, Clemson DE Shaq Lawson and Penn State DE Carl Nassib Why Bosa should win: Unless the award is based solely on statistics, the Ohio State junior should be the runaway winner. Quite simply, there is no more dominant defender in the country than Bosa, who has only solidified his claim as the likely No. 1 draft pick next spring, consistently been praised by the coaching staff as a significantly improved player from a year ago and continued to be a game-changing force despite routinely drawing the attention of two or three blockers on every snap. His numbers are down from last season, and that has cost some individual acclaim this year already. But his influence for the Buckeyes has been undeniable for anybody watching him in action instead of just glancing at a box score. Bosa’s power, speed, energy and what appears to be a much better understanding of both his responsibilities and what the opponent is trying to do has made him the most feared, complete defensive end in college football. Even with all those extra offensive linemen trying to slow him down, Bosa did still rack up 16 tackles for loss with 5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception for good measure. But it’s impossible to evaluate him solely on his personal statistics this season, because much of what he did was directly benefitting his teammates. Collectively, that all added up to the No
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