What's really important is 9 rushes for 23 yards. Its great that he can return punts...we have Jerome Mathis.
How is Bush playing well? Great, he catches passes...I would be pissed if we drafted him as our runningback and had to turn him into a receiver.
the way bush looks right now, he's more brian mitchell than marshall faulk. mitchell had a lot of all purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns via kick and punt) but where is he among the greats? try not in the same league or same breath as them.
If meltdown means refuting bandwagoning homer posts with actual statistical evidence and logic, absolutely.
jgreen91, I don't understand your attitude. Reggie Bush is averaging 3.14 yds/carry. Laurence Maroney is averaging 4.25 yds/carry. LenDale White is averaging 4.27 yds/carry. Joseph Addai is averaging 4.56 yds/carry. DeAngelo Williams is averaging 5.35 yds/carry. Maurice Jones-Drew is averaging 5.36 yds/carry. Every rookie drafted in the first 2 rounds is averging more yards on the ground than Reggie Bush. So, why are you even gloating? Bush has looked damn good catching the ball and returning punts, but he was drafted as a running back, and frankly, he's not getting the job done right now. How can you deny that?
You need to stop with the meltdown, Vescey. You're just embarassing yourself more and more when you go to those ultimate homer techniques like actual statistical analysis and hard evidence. You need to go back to believing everything Sean Salisbury tells you!
Are you guys engineers? Only engineers look at numbers in the way you guys are looking at Bush's rushing yards per carry. I have Sunday ticket, i've watched the saints games. I doubt you guys have, if so then i'm wrong and I apologize. Here is the deal. When Deuce runs, he is in a traditional set back situation with a lead blocker on a true running play. Since they have Deuce and he is their main running back, when they actually rush the ball with bush, they either 1. Toss it to the outside or 2. run some kind of gimick running play out of the shotgun or a 3rd down draw play. Due to these types of play calls, Bush will sometimes lose 4-5 yards on a single carry. But when they line him up in a traditional running set, he does just as well as Deuce. Those big losses account for his low yards per carry average. Follow me? Bush reminds me of Brian Westbrook right now with the eagles, if he has to he can be a good traditional running back but the eagles don't use him that way because he has such good hands. If Deuce goes down, you'll see the traditional situation with Bush, but for now, the Saints are utilizing him very well. Plus being a rookie and being involved in so many different types of plays i'm impressed with the way he has picked up the play book. He is doing whatever the saints need him to do to win, and they are winning.
Maroney, White and those other guys aren't in situations where they always have to run draw plays out of the shotgun or toss sweeps. They aren't put in situations where they can actually lose 4 yards. I guess it is the way of the Saints coaches to mix things up, whatever works. Is it possible to find a yard per carry stat for Bush while in non shotgun situations?
I watch games every Sunday with a buddy who has NFL Sunday Ticket, so I've seen much of the Saints schedule as well. And you're partially correct - Bush's yardage is negatively inflated by a handful of no gains and/or plays of negative yardage. But his situation has been strikingly similar to that of Deuce. The difference in the results are two-fold. First, Bush doesn't break as many tackles or run between the tackles as well as Deuce. But more importantly, Bush won't take a short gain. It's not scheme... many of his negative plays are him trying to circle around ahd change directions and outrun the defense like he did in college... except NFL defenders are a bit faster. It's a mentality he's got to grow out of that he hasn't at this point. And your logic is flawed. Actually, a third-down back who gets a handful of draws on third-and-long situations from the shotgun should have a higher YPC average because the defense is focused on the pass. Bush isn't getting the job done right now, at least not running the football.
Wow... maybe I was watching the wrong game highlights, but it sure looked like Bush scored the winning TD by breaking a long punt return and outrunning folks into the endzone. Seems like breaking a big play like that in that situation would be considered something of a positive. Up to yesterday, folks were saying "gee, if Bush was such an impact player, why hasn't he score a TD?" Now its, "well, it was only a punt return and he only gained x yards." Even when the Texan front office was talking Bush up before the draft they talked about how he was would be used in multiple ways. As a Texan fan, I share everyone's happiness that Williams has finally gotten the monkey off his back and hope that he will now continue to contribute as the front office folks had projected. But to say Reggie Bush isn't having an impact. Well, I just don't see that...
Wasn't all the talk around draft time that he wouldn't be just another "combo" back like Brian Westbrook or Eric Metcalf? Wasn't all the talk that he would do that, but better, as well as turn into the next Gale Sayers? I'm sorry if nobody is jumping up and down over an 11 catch 63 yards receiving day from a running back, combined with a gift punt return TD. Simply put.. that was not what we were "told" he was capable of. It wouldn't be such a big deal (his awful running performance) if he didn't have a guy on his SAME TEAM who was putting up the numbers that people thought Reggie would put up. They said "Reggie only needs 10-15 carries to make something happen". Well, Deuce got his 100 yards in 15 carries yesterday. Maroney's looked good, Maurice-Drew's looked good... but I guess its all the Saints fault because they "use him" differently. Belive me... if they felt Reggie could put up 15 carries 100 yards, they'd use him the way you want them to. Deuce deserves, and will get, more carries each and every week... while Bush may now be the full-time punt returner. But hey... that's not so bad. Hell, Desmond Howard was a heisman trophy winner, had two return TD's in a super bowl, and was the MVP of the game... and THAT is the only way he salvaged what would have been a waste of a career. Dante Hall is also a household name at doing that. Sure, none of them make $53 million dollars, or are annointed the guy who will "change the game", but that's okay.
Trying to find the "wrong" in REGGIE BUSH right now? to overlook the "wrong" in Mario Williams? TWO "WRONG" DONT MAKE A RIGHT GUYS! Gotta admit BOTH arn't living up to it yet, but can't deny that REGGIE has shown more than MARIO right now.
If you were starting a team right now and could pick from any running back in the league, who would you pick? If Reggie Bush is not in the top 5-7 of that list, he's not living up to expectations. A #1 pick at running back better change the game (as a running back - not as a returner) - he's not doing that. He wouldn't be amongst the top 10 running backs you'd pick, let alone top 5. that's not to say he never will, but the bottom line is that he's demonstrating the exact weaknesses critics thought he would. His strength is in the open space - but running backs in the NFL don't get into open space very much.
I don't know why people are getting so mad at not picking Reggie Bush. I remember a guy in college that played the same role he did at Tech and he's doing it in the NFL now. Thats right we should be kicking ourselves for not grabbing Wes Welker 3 years ago when he was undrafted. Wes Welker Recieving Rec Yds Avg Lg 27 299 11.1 31 Punt Returns Ret FC Ret Yds Avg 9 9 117 13.0 Kick Off Returns No Yds Avg 15 373 24.9 Total Yards 789 Reggie Bush Rushing Att Yds Avg 54 170 3.1 Recieving Rec Yds Avg 34 250 7.4 Punt Returns Ret Yds Avg. 12 132 11 Total Yards 552
Yes I am an engineer, but using that to dismiss anything I say is ridiculous. This all sounds well and good if you ignore Bush's expectations and what he is being paid in a league with a hard cap. I said when he came out that he has a better chance of being Rocket Ismail than Gale Sayers. Rocket Ismail was a very productive NFL player, and was probably the best slot receiver/return man in the league when he played, but were I paying a player Reggie's salary, I'd want more than Rocket Ismail. (I'd want more than Mario Williams, but at least in his short career I've seen improvement. All I've seen from Bush is further movement to a specialist.)
i agree 100% the criticisms before the draft were that: 1. he couldn't run between the tackles; 2. his greatest strength, speed, would be marginalized in the NFL; 3. he wouldn't get enough touches in a game to justify spending the #1 pick on him. I think all of those are looking to be right on right now. He's only played a handful of games in the NFL, so the story isn't over yet. But so far, the criticisms for using the #1 pick on him seem to be playing out as true.
