Reggie Bush was last year’s college football sweetheart - after all he was the Heisman Trophy winning USC running back with multiple national championships, and he was expected to be the number one pick in the 2006 NFL draft. That is until the Houston Texans and their outgoing GM Charlie Casserly decided to go with the “signable” pick, defensive end Mario Williams from NC State.
While Williams was a talented player who had a productive college career as well as an impressive NFL Combine performance, no one expected him to be selected number one. The logic was that Reggie Bush or Vince Young would be the right choice for a struggling franchise that had question marks at QB (#1 overall pick David Carr who was released after the 2006-2007 season) and RB (Domanick Davis was running out of favor in Houston).
Williams ended up in Houston, Reggie Bush landed in New Orleans, and Vince Young was selected third by the Tennessee Titans and won Rookie of the Year last season. While everyone praised the Reggie Bush pick at the time, some are now saying that Williams and Young are better pro prospects. This is an overreaction to Reggie Bush’s slow start in 2007 (80 rushing yards at 2.8 yards per carry with two TDs and 16 receptions at 4.4 yards per catch) but a key injury has provided Bush the opportunity to prove his worth.
Deuce McAllister tore his ACL in Monday night’s game against Tennessee, potentially jeopardizing his career, and now Bush has to carry more of the running load. McAllister with his 244 carries for 1057 yards and 10 rushing TDs plus 30 receptions, was the single most important reason Bush’s rookie year was successful. McAllister allowed Bush to ease into his role as running back / play maker and not be the primer ball carrier. (Drew Brees’s 4,418 yards and 26 TDs also helped lessen the load for Bush). Bush tallied 155 rushes at 3.6 per carry and six TDs as well as an impressive 88 catches and two TDs in his rookie campaign.
Had Reggie Bush gone to Houston, he would have been the primary runner behind a weak offensive line and may not have survived the 2006 season. With McAllister out, this is Bush’s chance to prove that he is a worthy number two overall pick and a bona fide NFL runner who can carry the ball 20-25 times a game.
2 comments:
Reggie needs to stop making commercials and start focusing on hitting the hole. His stardom off the field is not matched by his play on it, yet.
Reggie Bush was the right pick. He's the ultimate playmaker.
Give him time and he'll do his thing.
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