Since we are on the topic of Bush... VS. Indy... 5 rushes for 22 yards, 5 receptions for 20 yards. Deuce had 6 rushes for 62 yards...and a TD.
Three preseason games, 45 total yards per game, no TDs. 1 highlight worthy play. Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. This just in, Bush wasn't the key football player on his college team, and he wasn't the best or most dominant college football. He wasn't the most flawless looking draft prospect in recent years either. ESPN just has to compound their overhype with more overhype. The only time they admitted the Heisman voters blew it was right after the Rose Bowl, before the censors decided such comments were not in their network/promotion interests. Bush is a dazzling player, but there is a lot more to being a dominant football player than the occasional spectacular play. But it makes great highlights. Reggie Bush is the ultimate sound bite football player. To me the scoreboard is what matters not the fun soundbites.
I want to complain about ESPN, but the longest football thread in the last month in the Texans, Astros, and Comets Forum is this one.
This is actually an interesting point that I've brought up multiple times among friends. I think there is a player that hits all of this that was drafted in this draft. He was clearly the best player on a Top 5 team. He played an important NFL position, and had skills that translated perfectly to the NFL with no flaws in his game. (I'm sure most of you know who it is by now.) I thought A.J. Hawk was the most obvious star in the entire draft. I don't think I've ever seen a linebacker as good as him in college. That's just not true with anyone picked ahead of him.
If Bush didnt play a single down last year he still would have been the #1 prospect in the draft based on what he did at the combine. Strength, speed, vertical jump, hands, etc etc etc. Yeah guys, all of the experts only ranked him #1 because of ESPN overhyping him and because he was on a top 5 team. Come on.
I am not doubting that he isn't overhyped but you gotta admit that he did make big plays for a big team.
Well, he wasn't the #1 prospect for the team that had the #1 pick and who spent the most time evaluating all the strengths and weaknesses of the top prospects. No doubt Bush is a special talent. But he was overrated as a college football player (wasn't the MVP of his own team IMO and clearly wasn't the class player on the Rose Bowl field to everyone with their eyes open) and his limitations/weaknesses were glossed over compared to the other top skill position prospects (Young, Leinart, Cutler). The fact Bush is light for an NFL RB (particularly in the lower body), had another back on his team to take the tough/inside carries, and rarely had to break tackles of bigger players near the LOS because they were usually pancaked by the best Oline in college football for 2 years are NOT small questions to be easily dismissed. Doesn't mean he won't be a player, and his combine is might impressive along with many many plays, but let us not pretend he had a resume like Barry Sanders and Marshall Faulk--who were their teams only horse, playing behind crapola college olines, and who every opponent could try to (an usually unsuccessfully at that) focus on. Personally, I would not have thought of taking Hawk in the top 3 picks. Hawk and Huff IMO are the most "sure proof" quality NFL players, but their upside as dominant NFLers IMO is not the level of Bush, Young, and Mario Williams (probably not as high as Leinart or Cutler, but that depends on your QB situation). I'd probably taken Davis over Hawk too.
