Highlighting the top five Buckeyes in the NFL this season

99% of Ohio State players in the NFL are officially done for the season. The lone Buckeye remaining is running back Trey Sermon for the Philadelphia Eagles. Therefore, I wanted to reflect on which players had the best seasons this year.

1. Nick Bosa

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While one Bosa brother, Joey, was injured for the majority of the year, the other brother had the best season of his career. Nick has been named a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, and it is highly likely that he will win the award. He finished this season with 18.5 sacks, the most in the league.

I gave him the top spot because I believe his play had the biggest impact on his team. The 49ers had one of the top, if not the top, defense in the NFL this past year, and that is largely because of Bosa. He was the leader of this defense, and quarterbacks all around the league feared going against him. He is going to be scary for the next few years if he continues to play at this level.

2. Joe Burrow

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Two things: yes, he is a Buckeye, and yes, he could also have taken the top spot. It is very possible that Burrow takes home MVP and Bosa takes home DPOY. So these two can tie for the top spot, just to appease everyone.

Anyway, I feel like I really don’t have to say too much about Joey B. Everyone knows how cool he is under pressure and how critical he is to the success of the Bengals. His 35 touchdowns are the second-most in the league, and his 4,475 passing yards are fifth.

The most remarkable stat, however, is how he led his team to 10-straight wins to finish out the season. While Cincy lost in the AFC Championship game, it is pretty safe to say it wouldn’t have made it there without Burrow.

3. Garrett Wilson

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My personal favorite out of all, my guy GW on the Jets! As a Jets fan, I could not have been happier with how his rookie season panned out. Obviously I knew how talented he was at Ohio State, but I was very impressed with how seamlessly he transitioned to the pros. Even with the unfortunate QB carousel, Wilson did not miss a beat.

He quickly became WR1 on the team. He had 147 targets, 50 more than the next receiver. Additionally, his 1,100 yards were pretty much double from Tyler Conklin, who had 552. If he can get a solid, stable quarterback throwing to him next year, I cannot wait to see how he does. Also, he is a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he better win.

4. Chris Olave

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The only other acceptable OROY winner would be Chris Olave, although unfortunately, he is not a finalist. I think this is rude because he also put up a 1,000 yard rookie season! Olave and Wilson had almost identical seasons, as Olave also became WR1 on his team. He had the most targets by far, and also about double the amount of receiving yards as the next receiver.

5. Terry McLaurin

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What a year for scary Terry! This is his third consecutive 1,000-yard season, finishing with 1,191 yards this year. The theme continues here as he was also WR1, but the next leading receiver is fellow Buckeye Curtis Samuel! That’s a threatening receiving duo. McLaurin has managed to shine the past couple of years even with the multiple quarterbacks he’s had throwing to him. He truly is an underrated player in this league.