Joey Bosa & Taylor Decker: Lombardi Award Semifinalists – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State senior left tackle Taylor Decker and junior defensive end Joey Bosa were each named today as a semifinalist for the 46th Lombardi Award. The two Buckeyes are the only teammates among the 12 semifinalists, a group that includes a conference-high five Big Ten Conference players.
Three-year starting left tackle Decker, from Vandalia, Ohio, is the leader of an Ohio State offensive line that has helped Ezekiel Elliott extend a nation’s-best streak of 13 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, while the team ranks 13th nationally with 247.0 rushing yards per game.
Selected a “champion” by the Ohio State coaches in five games so far this season, Decker is a team captain who has started 37 consecutive games. Ohio State ranks first nationally (tied) in those last 37 games with an average of 6.2 yards per carry and it ranks second nationally with an average of 277.4 rushing yards per game. An animal sciences major, this mammoth – 6-8, 315 pound – tackle has spent the last two summers interning at the world-famous Columbus Zoo.
Bosa, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the dominant defensive line performer who is tied for first nationally among current players, with 24.5 career quarterback sacks and has 11.0 tackles-for-losses totaling 44 yards so far this year to rank fourth in the Big Ten Conference and 14th nationally. Always dealing with a double-team, Bosa has still powered his way to record 30 tackles, plus wreaking additional havoc with nine quarterback pressures and three pass break-ups for the undefeated Buckeyes.
Bosa, a communications major, is also a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award this year and he is on the midseason watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award. He was a unanimous All-American in 2014 when he was a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award and was named the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year and its defensive lineman of the year.
