Los Angeles Chargers: Joey Bosa will become the face of the franchise

Joey Bosa was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers third overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Last year, Bosa started his road to superstardom.

For the first time since 2004 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Chargers owned a top ten selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. The last player to get selected by the Chargers in the top ten was first overall selection Eli Manning, who then was flipped to the New York Giants in exchange for the fourth overall pick – Phillip Rivers.

As we all know, in the thirteen years that followed Rivers inserted himself into Chargers’ history, becoming one of four faces of the franchise’s Mount Rushmore. Alongside LaDanian Tomlinson, Rivers was the face of this new generation of the Chargers, taking the honors from the late, great, Junior Seau.

12 drafts later the Chargers again found themselves in the top ten, instead of going offensive, however, the then San Diego Chargers went a different route.

At third overall, the Chargers selected defensive end Joey Bosa out of the Ohio State University. Bosa came into the league with immense promise, having 26 sacks in his three collegiate years alongside 51 total tackles for loss. Los Angeles seemingly had their pass rusher for the future, yet the question marks still continued to circle.

The Los Angeles Chargers certainly wanted Joey Bosa to be a member of the organization, however, Bosa seemingly did not entirely feel the same. Bosa and the Chargers had one of the most difficult contract disputes in NFL history, with the Chargers not inking a deal until late August.

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Then, even more hiccups occurred as the rookie defensive end missed the Chargers first four games of the season with a hamstring injury. Fans were frustrated, wondering why the organization would make a selection that caused this much complication.

However, the patience of the Los Angeles Chargers and its fan base was rewarded. In just 12 games played, only 11 were starts, Bosa showed his true worth to the Chargers organization. Bosa registered 41 total tackles, 10.5 of which being sacks. Despite only playing twelve games, this was good enough for the 13th best mark in the NFL.

On the tail end of a great season, Bosa earned the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He joins an elusive group of recent winners in the likes of Aaron Donald, Luke Keuchley, and Kiko Alonso. Bosa is obviously something special, and he will become the face of the franchise.

Phillip Rivers is at the tail end of his career, and while the Chargers very well could draft an outstanding quarterback to succeed Rivers, nobody will have the impact that Rivers has. Antonio Gates is retiring, Keenan Allen is too injury prone, and quite frankly, there is no one else to fit the bill.

Next: Bold predictions for the 2017-18 Chargers

Bosa has already proven that he will be something special not just for the Chargers but for the entire National Football League. Don’t be surprised if we see Bosa’s name atop the sack leaders year after year, and we see him become the kind of star the J.J. Watt is.

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