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Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is having a very good rookie season, having started all six games, recorded 47 combined tackles, one sack, five passes defensed and two forced fumbles. You look at Edmunds, and you see a young player who definitely belongs in the NFL.

Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa is hoping to be that kind of player next year. Bosa announced this week that he is leaving Ohio State to heal up after suffering an injury early this season, and that his sole focus now will be preparing for the 2019 NFL draft.

Bosa is an outstanding talent, viewed by many as an even better player than his brother, Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa, who was the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft and a Pro Bowler last year. There’s really no reason Nick Bosa couldn’t be playing for an NFL team this year, except that the NFL’s rules won’t allow it. The league has long had a rule requiring players to be at least three years out of high school before they can play in the NFL, and Bosa graduated from high school two and a half years ago.

But here’s why that rule is silly: Bosa is six months older than Edmunds. If Edmunds, who turns 21 in May, can play in the NFL right now, why can’t Bosa, who turns 21 next week?

The NFL likes to claim that players need three years out of high school because they won’t be ready for the pros any earlier than that, but that’s a very specious claim. Edmunds is showing that a 20-year-old is perfectly capable of playing at a high level in the NFL. If other 20-year-olds are capable of doing that, they should be allowed to. If they’re not capable of playing, NFL teams won’t draft them, won’t sign them, or won’t keep them on the 53-man roster. Same as rookies who are 21, 22 or 23 years old.

What the NFL’s rule really accomplished was to send Bosa back to another year of college that he didn’t want and didn’t need. After he got hurt, Bosa wisely decided not to risk another injury in amateur football. The next time Bosa puts on a helmet and shoulder pads will be after he has received a multimillion-dollar signing bonus.

But Bosa shouldn’t have had to wait until 2019 to get that signing bonus. He’s ready to play in the NFL right now. Bosa is not too young to play well in the NFL. Edmunds is proving that.