Who? Only the counterpart to Reggie Bush.... Could we pick him up and use him as trade bait if we can't get Bush? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3551290.html He shares a backfield with two Heisman winners, but USC's LenDale White more than holds his own By JOSEPH DUARTE Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle LOS ANGELES — He's eighth on the USC all-time career rushing list with 3,035 yards. In his three years at USC, he has set the school's career touchdown mark of 54, not bad at a place that has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners. He's posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, a first for a Trojans running back in nearly 25 years. He was named an All-American this season. He is projected as a first-round NFL pick. His name isn't Reggie Bush. Bush goes by the nickname "The President," so he needs a running mate. LenDale White is the Dick Cheney of college football running backs, sharing the USC backfield with not one, but two Heisman winners. "I think he's the story in this game that nobody is talking about," Texas coach Mack Brown said of the Longhorns' Rose Bowl opponent. Bush, with his electrifying speed and gravity-defying moves, won the Heisman this month and is projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft if he decides to forgo his final year of eligibility. Matt Leinart owns a stiff-arm trophy, has poster-boy good looks and is 37-1 as the USC starting quarterback. Then there's White, arguably the most decorated and dependable backup in the country. Where else but a school tabbed "Tailback U." can you find a player with 1,178 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns not the featured attraction? "I don't think I'm overshadowed (by Leinart and Bush) at all," said White, who was named third-team All-American this season. "When you play with players like them, you have to be honored. I'm just glad to be in the same backfield with them." Bush is the Trojans' lightning, with the ability to break loose for a touchdown at any time as a tailback, receiver or kick returner. White, at 6-2 and 235 pounds, is a bulldozer who specializes in short-yardage goal-line situations and taking time off the clock in the fourth quarter. White and Bush averaged 236 of the top-ranked Trojans' 264.2 yards on the ground this season, which ranks fourth nationally. The X-factor The UT game plan will include trying to slow the Heisman-winning tandem of Bush and Leinart. But Brown said the focus also will be on containing White, whom he calls the X-factor. "Matt Leinart has done his deal. Everybody's talked about Reggie Bush. Nobody's talked about LenDale White," Brown said. "He could have been in New York (for the Heisman ceremony) along with the other two. I don't think people are giving LenDale White enough credit for what he's accomplished." Brown recruited White out of Chatfield High in Denver. White visited Austin before narrowing his choices to UT and USC. "We were right about him, too," Brown said. "He's really good. Our evaluation was good, our recruiting techniques were not. Pete (Carroll) out-recruited us." Despite sharing a backfield with Bush, White has managed to get his share of the workload. His 177 rushing attempts are only 10 fewer than Bush, and he averages 6.7 yards per carry. White's role is that of a sledgehammer, especially when the Trojans get close to the end zone. Of White's 36 touchdowns the past two seasons, 27 have been 8 yards or less. He also has two touchdown catches out of the backfield. White is the first Trojans back to rush for at least 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons since 1981 Heisman winner Marcus Allen (1980-81). White's 49 rushing touchdowns are tied with another Heisman winner, Charles White, for most in school history. "He can start anywhere else in the nation," said Texas All-American safety Michael Huff. "We know we have to contain him when he's in the game, because he'll line up and run over you. He's quick for a big guy. He'll shake you now and then." Work for the scout team To prepare their defense, the Longhorns spent time last week in practice simulating speedy tailbacks Ramonce Taylor and Jamaal Charles for Bush and 270-pound freshman Henry Melton for White on the scout team. Melton wore White's No. 21 jersey. "We've got to kind of stop both of them," Huff said. joseph.duarte@chron.com
not for me.. white doesn't seem like enough of a SURE upgrade over DD to make it worth the pick when we could spend the pick on a more-pressing need (whenever this pick would be made)
A month ago, most of these "mock draft" had Texans taking D'Brick #1 but since then is mostly Reggie Bush. I havn't heard anything about D'Brick all year. mock draft 1 mock draft 2 mock draft 3 mock draft 4
Man, I like UT but if they are preparing for White by simulating games with Henry Melton, then they are in for a rude awakening. White is much faster and more elusive. But then again, I'm sure they know that.
That may be true, but what about USC preparing for Vince Young? They are using a backup TE to play Vince on run plays and a backup QB to play him on passing plays. I'm not sure how that helps since it becomes obvious what type of play is being run by who's playing Young at the time.
Yeah, good point. I guess for teams like USC and UT that have players with no equal throughout the college ranks, it's damn hard to do any kind of live game simulations that will be helpful.
curious - what finally brought you around to the bush camp? and where does RM95 sit these days? i feel really sorry for the texans - classic damned if they do, damned if they don't situation.... for this bob mcnair paid $700M?
The fact that he apparently can defy gravity. I think a player that can fly over the field can be a unique difference maker. Seriously, though - I'm not opposed to drafting Reggie Bush. I'm just not convinced its the solution to our problems. I've kind of moved away from the left-tackle idea as it seems that they finally have a functional left tackle (keep in mind, I don't really see Texans games here in Austin so I'm going more on what I hear) and there seem to be questions about Ferguson. I would like to see what kind of trade proposals you can get though. If we can get a Ricky Williams type "entire draft" trade from some team, I think you have to take it. Reggie is good, but this team just has way too many holes that he can't solve. He can make the OLine look better or what not, but the defense is simply terrible.
yeah, and i think therein lies my frustration with the anti-bush camp: he's being viewed in a vacuum as if the entire offseason will hinge on what he brings to the table. truth is next year's success will really be dependent on what we do beyond bush: the coach we hire, the other players we draft, the free agents we sign, the players we need to develop, the cancers we cut from the locker room... plus, i've never been a fan of trading down - even more risky, imo. tennessee, by all accounts, cracked us in the babin deal and landed a boatload of extra picks... and they'll be drafting shortly after we do for the second year in a row.
I agree that the offseason will be a lot more than that first pick. But if you can get 3 or 4 1st and 2nd rounders out of the deal, I think that lets us fill a lot of holes that couldn't be filled otherwise. Trading down is risky if you only get a few picks out of it. But if you get a handful of them, I think its to your advantage. Then again, I have no real evidence for such. Who did New Orleans give all their picks to in order to get Ricky? I don't even remember and can't seem to find it offhand. Did that work out for that team? All this said, I think it might be a moot point. I expect the Texans to destroy the 49ers on Sunday.
I *think* it was Washington and Casserly was involved in that. From what I remember they ended up with Champ Baily as part of those draft picks.
Yeah, that's what it was. Washington then traded with the Bears, and had the #7 pick which is where they drafted Bailey. Damn I didn't realize New Orleans gave up that much! "The details of the trade involved Washington trading the fifth overall pick to New Orleans for a first (#12), third (#71), fourth (#107), fifth (#144), sixth (#179) and seventh (#218) round picks. In addition, the Saints would send 2000's first and third rounders to Washington." Interesting link about the draft that year if you have some time to kill: http://www.webskins.org/almanac/99/draft/draft99.html
oh, sure - but i've yet to see a deal yield that much in return. NO traded eight picks to washington for ricky williams and of those 8 picks, only 2 were among the top 50 (plus, they swapped first round picks). eli manning fetched a round 1 swap and a 5 plus a 1 and a 3 the following year. if houston swung a similiar deal, they'd essentially gain one additional pick among the top 50 players over the course of two drafts. so the question is... would you trade reggie bush for (using the 2005 draft): carnell williams (the fifth overall choice) and shaun cody (the 5th player taken in round 2)? very few GMs would, i think... sadly, i have a feeling we employ one of the few who would.
But the idea is that Reggie Bush is supposedly a once-in-a-lifetime prospect. Neither Eli nor Ricky were considered that. In theory, you'd get much more for him, although apparently Ditka thought Ricky was once in a lifetime. Vick, also fairly highly hyped, netted the #5 pick overall, a 2nd, and 3rd rounder along with Tim Dwight. If you accept not getting a top-5 type pick in return, I think you might be able to get two mid-1st rounders and 2 mid-2nd rounders or something like that.
indeed. some real gems from casserly, who was running the skins' draft that year, including this confusing quote about the '99 QB class (which included couch, mcnabb and akili amith): "I personally graded the '83 quarterbacks, and Elway was better than anyone in this draft. I also think Kelly, even though he played only two games as a senior, was a better quarterback than anyone in this draft. And Marino played better as a junior than anyone in this draft." - Charlie Casserly on QB prospects in the '99 Draft other QBs casserly thought were better than the still undrafted prospects in 1999: otto grahm, johnny unitas, bart starr, terry bradshaw, joe montana, steve young, troy aikman... In early draft evaluations, Casserly made it clear the only QB he would consider drafting in the first round would be Couch. it's not so much that he would have picked couch... but that he wouldn't have picked mcnabb. startling. btw, the article also goes into great detail about casserly's master stroke - trading away picks (inlcusing some he got in the ricky deal) for an injured LT named derek smith, who, so far as i can tell, never played a down for them. said casserly at the time: "We thought it was worth the draft choice because we had him graded higher than the fifth round." "Derek was a highly productive left tackle who came on at the end of the year. It's a good investment. His knee got as good a recommendation as you could get." yikes.
Oh - I'm also assuming Casserly is gone. This team is going nowhere, with or without Bush, if Casserly's here. If he is here for some stupid reason, then I definitely say draft Reggie Bush. He'll screw up any other picks he would get from a trade anyway.
