As of right now, this season, he sucks. He has turned in essentially one play all season, a punt return that was more about the blocking than it was him. He has caught a million swing passes … but most of the backs in the league could do that if you wanted to run your offense that way.
Laurence Maroney, Maurice Jones-Drew and Joseph Addai are clearly better now, and will all have better careers.
Jerious Norwood, Leon Washington, Mike Bell and even Wali friggin’ Lundy have been more productive. I’d bet at least one or two of them will have better careers.
A better Dave Meggett was the comparison I originally made, but as Bush may well end up moving to WR eventually, Eric Metcalf might be a better comparison.
But it’s definitely soon enough for Houston Texan fans to stop whining about how they SHOULD have drafted Bush, who (so far) hasn’t been THAT much more productive than Mario Williams.
There is no way in hell Bush will end up as a full-time wide-out.
I agree with RealityChuck, it’s far too early to judge a rookie. As a rookie, he is having a direct impact on the games he plays in, he impacts a defence facing him, and his team is 6-2. This is good.
Bush was a sure bet. He’s having a positive impact on his team. If another rookie has a better season, that doesn’t make Bush a bust. He’s done what has been asked of him, and not cost his team with mistakes. He’s “failed” only if you expected multiple highlight-reel clips every game.
Really, I don’t get the OP. He’s played at a decent, effective level from day one, and that is no small accomplishment. The transition from college to the pros is tough, and some really outstanding players have taken more than half a season, or two or more full seasons for that matter, to succeed at it. The Saints realistically must have been crossing their fingers that they would get anything significant at all out of him this season. 319 total yards (rushing and receiving, not even thinking about the return yardage, which helps field position but doesn’t get you first downs) in eight games has got to have the team management shedding tears of joy.
“Bust” does not mean “utterly worthless,” it means “performs far below expectations.”
So, the Saints asked him to have the lowest yards-per-carry in the league? They didn’t harbor hopes that he might, y’know, actually break some of those screen passes for 20 or 30 yards?
You can get street free agents who do what you ask. When you take a guy #2 overall, you expect him to have an impact, not be a placeholder.
I named a half-dozen rookie RBs who are having better seasons in the OP.
No, he has not. He is averaging 2.6 yards per carry. McAllister, running behind the same O-line, is averaging almost 2 yards a carry better.
Not at his position. RBs as a rule are who they are from the start; some may not get the opportunity right out of the gate (Ahman Green, Stephen Davis), but it’s not like QB where a starter needs a year or two to get up to speed. Next to D-line or kicker, RB is the position where its easiest to transition.
Absurd. With the exception of QBs, first round draft picks are almost always expected to contribute immediately. The day he was drafted, they said he’d get 20 touches a game.
The worst RB in the league can get yards if you run him into the line enough times. Efficiency matters.
A good rule of thumb is that when your coach has to go to the media and say you’re not a bust, you probably are.
The main criticism I’ve been hearing is that Reggie is trying to break those 20 to 30 yard runs on every play when he should be focusing on 3 to 4 yard gains and the 20 to 30 yarders will come. On a few of the plays last sunday there was a seam straight ahead of him that he could easily pop through for a few yards but he cut back about 3 times and ended up losing a few yards. That happened a few times and he can’t be doing that. I honestly believe that if he slows it down and simplifies things he’ll be just fine in time.
I agree with drm. Bush is a rookie, and he has to adapt to the league. Right now, he’s still trying to beat everybody to the sideline on every play. He’ll learn to cut it back inside. Maybe needs to watch film of Barry Sanders. As it stands, he still brings a lot to the table. Defenses are keying on Bush, which opens up opportunities elsewhere. He’s not going to win Rookie of the Year. So what? He was a solid pick, and I’m glad we got him.
Yes, this is exactly what’s happening; but I don’t think you can just assume he will adjust.
Eric Metcalf was a very similar player – speed, shiftiness, breathtaking open-field runner in college, high first-round pick. He never did adapt his game fully, though he did have some good years as a WR and return man.
Maybe Bush will adapt, maybe he won’t. But so far, as of this date, he’s been very mediocre.
Besides, there was an article in SI this week about all the rookies who are having good seasons.
A.J. Hawk is playing every defensive snap for Green Bay. 55 tackles, 2.5 sacks.
New England is starting a rookie at right tackle. That was almost unheard of years ago. Not to mention how many starts Vince Young and Matt Leinert have had already.
As others mentioned, Laurence Maroney (567 total yards, 3 TDs while splitting the work load like Bush) and Joseph Addai (634 yards, 3 TDs) are having better seasons than Bush.
Bush, to me, has always looked like he’ll be good. He’s definitely not a bust, but right now, he’s not looking much better than a lot of guys who were drafted way behind him.
You want a bust?
Try Dante Culpepper to the Dolphins and Randy Moss to the Raiders.
These two ex-Vikings must cry over the phone to eachother every week remembering the good-ol days.
I’m surprised no one has noted the obvious: Guys like Maroney (Patriots) and Addai (Colts) are on very, very good teams: the Patriots are a very quiet 6-2. The Colts are the league’s only unbeaten team (8-0). Not only are these very good teams, they have been very good teams for a number of years. And both teams were expected to be good this year - almost every ESPN analyst picked the Colts and Patriots to win their division.
The Saints, meanwhile, were 3-13 last year. No one expected them to do anything this year - not one of the ESPN analysts picked the Saints even to make the playoffs as a wildcard. ESPN’s Banks put the Saints at 5-11. CNNSI’s Dr. Z had them at 6-10. They have exceeded all expectations so far, getting to 6-2 - but the fact remains that they aren’t necessarily a great team.
If Bush had the Patriots’ front line blocking for him, he’d be blowing Maroney out of the water - and, being from Minnesota, it hurts me to say that. He has over 500 all-purpose yards in his first half-season in the NFL - Bush has been used extensively as a threat as a receiver out of the backfield. The Saints are 27th in running the ball - evidence of the relatively poor run blocking ability of the front line - yet the Saints are 4th in passing the ball, just behind the Colts. And guess who’s caught the ball more than any other Saint? Yep, R. Bush. He doesn’t have a great avg per catch, but it’s very respectable for a running back.
In short - to say that Bush is a bust, or even to say that he’s performed below expectations, is a real reach, I think. He is playing on a team that knew they would have a hard time running the football, but Bush has really given the team an added dimension by catching the ball out of the backfield. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Saints’ offense has improved, and they’ve already one twice as many games this year as they did all of last year. Is he trying to hard to break every play? Sure. Some people actually knocked Barry Sanders for that, btw - sure, he’d break one or two long ones every game, but how many drives did he kill a game by losing three-four yards on 3rd and short by running backwards trying to break it?
Put Bush in front of a front line like the Patriots, and he would be steamrolling Maroney - and it hurts this Minnesotan to say that…
I’m surprised no one has noted the obvious: Guys like Maroney (Patriots) and Addai (Colts) are on very, very good teams: the Patriots are a very quiet 6-2. The Colts are the league’s only unbeaten team (8-0). Not only are these very good teams, they have been very good teams for a number of years. And both teams were expected to be good this year - almost every ESPN analyst picked the Colts and Patriots to win their division.
The Saints, meanwhile, were 3-13 last year. No one expected them to do anything this year - not one of the ESPN analysts picked the Saints even to make the playoffs as a wildcard. ESPN’s Banks put the Saints at 5-11. CNNSI’s Dr. Z had them at 6-10. They have exceeded all expectations so far, getting to 6-2 - but the fact remains that they aren’t necessarily a great team.
If Bush had the Patriots’ front line blocking for him, he’d be blowing Maroney out of the water - and, being from Minnesota, it hurts me to say that. He has over 500 all-purpose yards in his first half-season in the NFL - Bush has been used extensively as a threat as a receiver out of the backfield. The Saints are 27th in running the ball - evidence of the relatively poor run blocking ability of the front line - yet the Saints are 4th in passing the ball, just behind the Colts. And guess who’s caught the ball more than any other Saint? Yep, R. Bush. He doesn’t have a great avg per catch, but it’s very respectable for a running back.
In short - to say that Bush is a bust, or even to say that he’s performed below expectations, is a real reach, I think. He is playing on a team that knew they would have a hard time running the football, but Bush has really given the team an added dimension by catching the ball out of the backfield. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Saints’ offense has improved, and they’ve already one twice as many games this year as they did all of last year. Is he trying to hard to break every play? Sure. Some people actually knocked Barry Sanders for that, btw - sure, he’d break one or two long ones every game, but how many drives did he kill a game by losing three-four yards on 3rd and short by running backwards trying to break it?