Pickin’ Bolts: Joey Bosa & the Shrug Life Are Now a SD Reality
Joey Bosa is now officially a member of the San Diego Chargers. I applaud the Chargers and Bosa for getting this deal done. According to AM 1360 here in San Diego, the deal was done Sunday morning and head coach Mike McCoy knew about it before the game.
According to various media reports Bosa will receive 85% of his $17 million signing bonus up front. The Chargers were also able to retain the offset language in the contract. The last holdup was regarding “cash flow” in years 2-4 of his contract. This refers to when salary payments and/or roster or workout bonuses are paid.
Compromise: Chargers got offset language; Bosa got a $17 million signing bonus, roster bonuses to front 2017, ’18 and ’19 (better cashflow).
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 29, 2016
Because Bosa was a 1st round pick, the Chargers hold a 5th year option that they have to exercise prior to year 4. Bosa is also given some contractually lenience during training camp; though I am not certain exactly how that plays out (is he allowed some days off, again, I’m unsure).
Let’s look again at his game. Bosa played DE in a 4-3 scheme. However, in obvious passing downs the Buckeyes would occasionally slide Bosa inside and add an additional pass-rusher to their DL. Despite the Chargers employing a base 3-4, their DL is a one-gap defense which is very 4-3-esque. And then, when they slide into a nickel formation the Chargers usually go to 4 down linemen. The Chargers will use him inside occasionally on obvious passing situations as well as on the edge as a 3-4 DE.
So how good is Joey? And for a similar question; how good will he be? Chew on this: according to ProFootballFocus.com Joey Bosa was the #1 graded pass-rusher both 2014 and 2015 and he was the #1 or #2 graded run-stopping DL in both years as well. People compare Bosa to J.J. Watt, which really isn’t fair to either player, but without any hyperbole Bosa was the superior player in college.
It’s also worth noting, while discussing Joey Bosa vis-à-vis J.J. Watt, that Watt only notched 5.5 sacks in his rookie season. In fact, Houston fans were so frustrated with selection of Watt he was routinely booed until he dominated in Houston’s playoff game his rookie year and scored a touchdown on pick-6. The next year Watt registered 20.5 sacks. Again, I am not saying Bosa will become a J.J. Watt-level player (Watt is basically already guaranteed to be a Hall of Famer) but while I’m saying the comparison isn’t fair, it’s an easy one to make. Here is ProFootballFocus’ scouting report and another article about his pass-rushing and run-stopping excellence.
What sort of impact will Bosa have? The thing to remember here is how one player can always be shut down but have multiple talented players lining up next to each other prevents opposing offensives from keying too much on one player. If you remember week 1 of last season, Melvin Ingram came around the edge and hit Matt Stafford right as he was throwing the ball. Rookie linebacker Kyle Emanuel intercepted the attempted pass. What most people missed was that Chargers’ DE Corey Liuget was triple-teamed on that play. Who do you double-team now, Liuget, Mebane, Bosa? Double-teaming any one of those will free up Ingram, Emanuel, and/or Jerry Attaochu off the edges.
Drafting Bosa was an exciting event. Getting him signed is fantastic.
Thanks for reading.
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