Ty21 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I’m a Notre Dame fan so I hated Reggie Bush in college but I just watched a highlight video of him and it sent me back in time 15 years. Pretty bummed he never played at the level he was expected to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabidPanther89 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) He was a hell of an athlete and amazing college player. I think for him and this is just my memory of him, but his blend of talents was a little odd in the NFL. Killed it in college but he had this slender sort of upright physique . But not necessarily able to be small enough to go between the tackles and didn’t really have the power to be an all down back. He looked like a kick returner trying to play running back. Even still I felt like he could have been more in the NFL. Just didn’t seem like he had defined role. Edited June 4, 2020 by RabidPanther89 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyB Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 He didn't have a bad career by any means. He hung around and was decently effective for awhile. I do agree he ultimately was a bust though for the #2 overall pick. I think it's the classic case of his skillset and athleticism being so superior in college that he just blew everybody out of the water, but among the competition level in the NFL, just wasn't as far ahead of the crowd. He was still good enough to accumulate some really nice, flashy plays, but not enough to just dust everybody the way he did in college. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakuvious Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Some of it was just expectation, honestly. He was productive for the vast majority of his career. His first 8 seasons he averaged 80 yards from scrimmage per game. That'd be about 1300 per season. But he was such a high profile prospect, with the ridiculous highlight vids, the team he came from, and his overall success in college, that it still felt pedestrian. That, and he really wasn't the healthiest guy ever. Not surprising for a RB, but he only had two seasons in his entire career he played 16 games. Would've started out with 3 straight 1000 yard seasons had he played the entirety of his second and third years. That kind of thing makes a difference, reputation wise. And then the fact that the Saints really were not interested in having a feature back didn't help, in terms of perception. His most productive years were really in Miami and Detroit, and they were just the teams that finally gave him a full load. The Saints did a great job using him as a receiver, but they really didn't do well with him as a runner. And they weren't always making the right backfield choices. In 09 when Bush and Thomas were averaging 5+ yards per attempt, they were outcarried by....Mike Bell? But if he had his Miami/Detroit workload and productivity his whole career, the narrative would be different, for sure. Now Bush himself did just disappoint to an extent as well. He was very much one of those guys who could just make fools out of the competition back at college, because no one was fast or agile or technically sound enough to compete with Bush's speed and agility as a runner. He made people look silly, but some of those people just weren't good at football, frankly. And his OL could straight up dominate in ways that you can't do at the NFL level. And that likely plays into why New Orleans didn't give him more of a running workload. He was at his best as an open field runner. His biggest highlights were when he was making DBs look silly on the sideline or 20 yards downfield on big runs. Getting him the ball in the passing game and return game were closest you could get to that kind of open space for him. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyB Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 And as old-man as this sounds (ugh), there may actually be people on this forum who don't remember this first-hand: His last college football season was the first one that I distinctly remember, where the idea of an NFL team purposely tanking in order to acquire a player legit came up. I remember articles online, and shows, talking about how x or y team should tank the season in order to get Reggie Bush. People assumed he'd go number 1 overall, without a doubt. The Texans actually made their pick the night before the official start of the draft. I remember being out at the bars and being absolutely stunned. Also drunk. But like...stunned while being drunk. With enough hindsight now, it's actually not that great of a draft, but it was the first draft that I really followed throughout the predraft process, and was into certain prospects, so I thought it was awesome. If you are wondering whether I made a new Madden franchise that year with Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Mario Williams, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, A.J. Hawk, Vernon Davis, Michael Huff, Haloti Ngata, Brodrick Bunkley, Tye Hill, Antonio Cromartie, Manny Lawson, Davin Joseph?... Yes. The answer is yes i did. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirill Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Not enough heart. To be great you can't just be talented. You gotta want it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvert28 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 25 minutes ago, DannyB said: And as old-man as this sounds (ugh), there may actually be people on this forum who don't remember this first-hand: His last college football season was the first one that I distinctly remember, where the idea of an NFL team purposely tanking in order to acquire a player legit came up. I remember articles online, and shows, talking about how x or y team should tank the season in order to get Reggie Bush. People assumed he'd go number 1 overall, without a doubt. The Texans actually made their pick the night before the official start of the draft. I remember being out at the bars and being absolutely stunned. Also drunk. But like...stunned while being drunk. With enough hindsight now, it's actually not that great of a draft, but it was the first draft that I really followed throughout the predraft process, and was into certain prospects, so I thought it was awesome. If you are wondering whether I made a new Madden franchise that year with Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Mario Williams, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, A.J. Hawk, Vernon Davis, Michael Huff, Haloti Ngata, Brodrick Bunkley, Tye Hill, Antonio Cromartie, Manny Lawson, Davin Joseph?... Yes. The answer is yes i did. I remember there was a Don't Mess with Texas commercial of people picking up trash, and Bush was the last person to catch a piece from another person then threw it into the garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I'm a ND fan too and Bush was not a bust any means. He is only considered a "Bust" by those who listened to the media at the time who labeled him as the next best thing since Barry Sanders and his hype meter went sky high and therefore the causing some fans to have that sort of expectation of him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pwny Posted June 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted June 4, 2020 Man, it's absolutely wild that playing for 9+ years and amassing 10,000 all purpose yards still gets you regarded as a bust.... 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Tyty is bored. Blame COVID-19. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DUKE Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 5 hours ago, pwny said: Man, it's absolutely wild that playing for 9+ years and amassing 10,000 all purpose yards still gets you regarded as a bust.... 9088 yards from scrimmage in 11 seasons (5490 rush, 3598 rec). 826 yfs/season. Only crossed 1000 once in his first 5 years, his rookie season, although he did 998 in year 2. His best years were ages 26-28 with Miami x2 and Detroit where he got a full workload, his best year being age 28 in Detroit with over 1500 yfs. 10001 all purpose yards, but you can't really include his return stats as a huge positive, an average return man will compile yards doing that. Looking at his return stats, he had maybe one year where he was anything more than average. For that #2 overall pick, that is pretty disappointing. It'd be like saying Saquon will never have the success he had his rookie year again, that'd also be a huge disappointment. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BushRe00.htm 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWil23 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I mean, if you define "bust" as he never lived up to the hype, then yeah, sure. But he played for almost a decade, was a key piece on a Super Bowl team, was very versatile, and tbh, would fit in today's NFL even better than when he came out 15 years ago. He's the type of guy you could absolutely motion in and out of the backfield/slot, look to give about 8-10 carries and 5-7 receptions a game, and he'd be a major factor in the Red Zone, especially in a place like New England, Kansas City, etc. I don't by any means think that New Orleans was wrong in how they used him, but with their vertical passing attack and downhill rushing attack that they were predicated on for so long, I think he wasn't a best fit in that type of offense. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 5 hours ago, pwny said: Man, it's absolutely wild that playing for 9+ years and amassing 10,000 all purpose yards still gets you regarded as a bust.... "Bust" is relative. This guy was supposed to put up Tomlinson-esque numbers. He's not Vernon Gholston or Trent Richardson, sure. But he didn't live up to expectations by a large amount. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyB Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 6 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said: I'm a ND fan too and Bush was not a bust any means. He is only considered a "Bust" by those who listened to the media at the time who labeled him as the next best thing since Barry Sanders and his hype meter went sky high and therefore the causing some fans to have that sort of expectation of him. Yeah...isn't that what a bust is? Somebody who doesn't meet the expectations of what they were supposed to be. Everybody thought he should be the first overall pick, which couldn't have been that far off because NOLA happily scooped him up #2 overall. For being the #2 overall pick, and a SUPER hyped one at that? Yes, he was a bust. 5 hours ago, pwny said: Man, it's absolutely wild that playing for 9+ years and amassing 10,000 all purpose yards still gets you regarded as a bust.... Because he was a bust. Nobody is calling him a disaster, or that his career is a complete joke. But he was a bust compared to what everybody thought he could be. You don't have to be Ki-Jana Carter to be considered a bust at RB. It's like Alex Smith. I have no idea if this is gonna be like a hot take or something, but to me it's obvious: Alex Smith was a bust. Now he eventually rounded into a serviceable quarterback, and you can explain his career trajectory any number of ways, but at the end of the day, if I'm taking a QB with the first overall pick, I'm expecting better than Alex Smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebestever6 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I never thought he ran with enough juice in the pros you watch Sproles with the ball with the Saints and him and it's night and day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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