Ohio State football: 5 reasons OSU will crush Washington, win Rose Bowl

1. The Buckeyes will be at full strength for the Rose Bowl game

One of the biggest stories surrounding the Buckeyes this season has been the loss of star defensive end Nick Bosa. He sustained an injury against TCU early in the season that would cause him to miss some time. The time he missed ended up becoming the entire season after he chose to forego the rest of the games to prepare for the NFL Draft in the Spring.

This was a controversial decision to many but it looks to be one that will soon be far more frequent. College football players are not being compensated for playing every week yet they still put themselves at risk for injury. It’s becoming more apparent early on which players stand a great chance at being drafted to the NFL so it’s fair for the players to question why they would put themselves at risk in college when they can just save their bodies for a fuller career in the NFL.

This has already become common during bowl season as a great player for a team who is not competing for a title in the bowl game feels inclined to sit out and save their body for the NFL. This decision has been cemented as the right one as the worst case scenario did end up happening to tight end Jake Butt in a bowl game.

Butt was perceived as being a solidified first round pick in the NFL Draft following his final season. However, he chose to participate in the bowl game where he sustained a serious injury. This ended up dropping his draft stock and delaying his career in the NFL as he was still recovering during his rookie season. NFL stars like Christian McCaffrey and Denzel Ward chose to sit out the bowl games in their final season to save themselves from possible injury.

In the case of the Buckeyes, defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones was thought to be a candidate to sit out this bowl game but ended up committing to playing. He has already declared for the NFL Draft, as has running back Mike Weber, but this will not stop them from competing in this game. This was likely led by quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ decision to play in this game as well despite being viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in this draft class if he were to declare.

Washington’s quarterback Jake Browning and running back Myles Gaskin will also be players to watch for entering the draft. Defensive players on Washington to look for include safety Taylor Rapp and cornerback Byron Murphy are also listed as first round picks on mock draft boards.

This game will feature the best each team has to offer but that comes to a disadvantage for the Huskies. If the Buckeyes were to lose Nick Bosa AND Dre’Mont Jones for this game then the tide would definitely turn a bit.

Add Dwayne Haskins or Mike Weber to that mix and multiply that by two. Expect the Buckeyes to play their best game as it will be the final time many of these star players will step on the field as college athletes.