The San Diego Chargers drafted Ohio State defensive lineman Joey Bose with the No. 3 overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft.
Bosa was rated as the No. 2 overall player, and best defensive player, on ESPN insider Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest big board.
Bosa was at one point projected as the No. 1 overall pick before the Tennessee Titans traded that pick to the quarterback-hungry Los Angeles Rams.
Chargers’ general manager Tom Telesco spent about an hour talking on the phone with Bosa on Monday afternoon, a call that obviously sold Telesco on him as the franchise’s tenth ever top-5 pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Bosa will be a help to the pass rush of the Chargers, which only managed 32 sacks last season, and saw only one player – linebacker Melvin Ingram – record double digit sacks (Ingram had 10.5).
The Bolts also had the 27th rush defense in the NFL in 2015, allowing 126.3 yards per game.
The 6’6″ product had 5 sacks in 2015, but 26 total in his three years at Ohio State.
His best statistical year came as a sophomore in 2014, when Bosa notched 13.5 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss and 4 forced fumbles for the Buckeyes.
It is also only the fourth time the Chargers have used a top-10 pick on a defensive lineman, and the first since they used the no. 8 pick to take Burt Grossman in 1989.