Joseph Anthony Bosa (born July 11, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, and was selected by the Chargers third overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Bosa attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he played high school football for the Raiders.^[1] He was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the fourth best defensive end in his class.^[2] Bosa committed to play college football at Ohio State University in April 2012.^[3]

As a true freshman in 2013, Bosa started 10 of 14 games, recording 44 tackles and 7.5 sacks.^[4] He was named a freshman All-American by the Sporting News and College Football News.^[5] In 2014, Bosa was named a Unanimous First Team All-American, becoming the 27th Buckeye in 84 years to do so.^[6] He finished his sophomore year with 13.5 sacks on 55 tackles.^[7] He earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.^[8]

On July 30, 2015, it was announced that Bosa would be suspended from the first game of the 2015 season with three other Ohio State football players for undisclosed reasons.^[9] During his junior year, Bosa finished with five sacks and an interception on 47 tackles.^[10] On December 31, 2015, he announced his intentions to enter the 2016 NFL Draft. During the 2016 Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame on January 1, 2016, Bosa was ejected in the first quarter for a targeting penalty when he made a hit on quarterback DeShone Kizer. Ohio State won the Bowl game by a score of 44–28.^[11] After his junior season, he entered the 2016 NFL Draft.^[12]

Bosa was a highly decorated Buckeye receiving National and Conference honors beginning his Freshman year. In 2013, Bosa was named a First Team Freshman All-American ^[13] as well as selected to the Freshman All-Big Ten First Team.^[14] In 2014, his sophomore year, he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Lineman of the Year, First Team All-American, and All-Big Ten, as well as a Lombardi Award Finalist. He repeated most of the honors his Junior year, falling short of claiming the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.

In March 2016, Bosa was projected to be a top 10 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah.^[15][16][17] Bosa received an invitation to the NFL combine as a top prospect in the upcoming draft. He completed all of the required combine drills and also participated in positional drills. Bosa met and interviewed with 13 NFL teams at the combine, including the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans. His overall performance at the combine was thought by scouts to be impressive.^[18]

Bosa was drafted in the first round with the third overall selection by the San Diego Chargers.^[22] He was the first of five Ohio State players to be drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft, followed by Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple, Taylor Decker, and Darron Lee.^[23]

When he remained the last unsigned draft pick of his class due to contractual disputes with the team, Bosa's mother stated "I wish we pulled an Eli Manning on draft day", referring to the 2004 NFL Draft in which Manning, a highly touted prospect who was projected to get selected first overall by the Chargers, refused to play for San Diego and forced a draft-day trade to the New York Giants.^[24]

On August 24, 2016, the Chargers issued a press release stating that they had offered Bosa an initial signing bonus payment that was larger than any rookie has received in the last two NFL drafts, which was more money in 2016 than any rookie in his draft class except Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz.^[25] On August 29, 2016, Bosa signed a four-year contract with the team, ending the dispute.^[26]

Bosa missed the first four weeks of the season due to a hamstring injury.^[27] On October 9, Bosa made his regular season debut against AFC West rival Oakland Raiders. Although Bosa only played 27 snaps, he finished the game with two sacks, a hit, and four hurries.^[28] The following game against the Denver Broncos, he had one quarterback hit, five hurries, and a stop while also drawing double teams throughout the game.^[29][30] Bosa was named Defensive Rookie of the Month for October.^[31] Despite being limited to 12 games, Bosa finished his rookie year with 41 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.^[32][33] Bosa was ranked as the 100th best player in the league by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.^[34]

Bosa followed his impressive rookie season with a solid second season, which began with the Chargers' move from San Diego to Los Angeles.^[35] He and Melvin Ingram formed one of the best pass rushing duos in the league, with Bosa totaling 70 tackles and 12.5 sacks - seventh in the NFL.^[36][37] On December 19, 2017, Bosa was named to his first Pro Bowl.^[38] He was ranked #37 by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.^[39]

Bosa suffered a foot injury, which sidelined him until Week 11 of the 2018 season.^[40] In seven games, he recorded 5.5 sacks, 23 combined tackles, nine quarterback hits, and one fumble recovery.^[41] He made his playoff debut in the Wild Card Round against the Baltimore Ravens. In the 23-17 win, he had one sack, two tackles, and one quarterback hit.^[42] In the Divisional Round against the New England Patriots, he had one tackle in the 41-28 loss.^[43]

On April 12, 2019, Bosa switched his jersey number from 99 to 97. He wore 97 during his tenure with Ohio State.^[44] On April 23, 2019, the Chargers picked up the fifth-year option on Bosa's contract.^[45]

Bosa's father, John Bosa, played in the NFL from 1987 to 1989.^[46] His brother, Nick Bosa, played defensive end for Ohio State, and was drafted with the number two overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2019. Bosa's great-grandfather was Chicago mob boss Tony Accardo.^{[47][48][49][50]}