The original title was "A Quick Reggie Bush Rant" but after seeing how much I've typed, I had to delete the 'quick' part.
Much has been made this year about the New Orleans offense. This year the Saints rank 18th in points per game. Right below the Joe Flacco led Ravens and right above the Ryan Fitzpatrick led Bills. With Drew Brees and the wide out talent this team has, how the hell are they only 18th?
Well, ESPN has the answer- the lack of Reggie Bush. They claim because Reggie Bush is such an explosive talent that defenses have to account for him whenever he's on the field. But with him out due to injury, defenses can focus more on Brees, send more guys back in coverage which messes up Drew Brees. To help ESPN prove their point, they show one play in which Reggie Bush is in the game and how the defense is set up and reacts. Then they cut right to another play a few weeks later (sans Bush) and the opposing team has a better defense for the Saints. Two plays to prove their point.
My reaction:
WHAT!? REGGIE BUSH IS NOT A GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER. THIS LOGIC DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. THIS IS BY THE FAR ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS NFL ANALYSTS HAVE SAID! THIS ANGERS ME GREATLY. WHY ARE WE YELLING?
I will concede a few things. 1) Reggie Bush does have great athleticism and talent. 2) On any given play, Bush does have the capability to take the ball and score a touchdown. 3) Reggie Bush was healthy in the year and now he's injured. 4) He was a great college running back.
Now here's my retort. First, on any given play, ANY skill player has the potential to score a long touchdown. Thomas Jones proved that last weekend with a 70 yard run. Matt Forte has this ability. But who cares, they are still an NFL offensive player. I'm pretty sure teams aren't shaking in the boots whenever Matt Forte has the ball. Yet he still has this amazing ability to be awesome in open space.
The main thing that ESPN is overlooking is that the Saints BEST running back- Pierre Thomas- is also injured. Both Bush and Thomas are out leaving the Brandon Jackson-esque Chris Ivory in to play. And even comparing Ivory to Jackson is an insult to Jackson.
The same two shots ESPN uses for Bush- I bet they could also use for Pierre Thomas. Plus, I'm pretty sure the rest of the league has caught up with Reggie Bush. They are fully aware after that four plus years, he doesn't nearly produce the same as when he was in college. I'm pretty sure that when a team is looking at film, they notice Pierre Thomas is the better running back. Throughout Thomas' entire career in NO, he has proven to be the better running back.
I agree that not having a legitimate running game does hurt Drew Brees and his ability to score points. I agree the lack of a running threat not only hurt play action plays (and let's be honest, the only reason teams run nowadays is to set up the play action) but the overall passing offense. But Reggie Bush alone does not constitute a legitimate running game.
And by the way, it's not like Reggie Bush has been the picture of health in his NFL career. He started, 8, 10, 8, 9 games respectively and he's only played in all 16 games once- his rookie year. The Saints have played without Reggie Bush before and yet still have had a prolific offense.
I still think ESPN has it in their heads that Reggie Bush is still the Heisman talent he was while at USC. During Bush's final year, ESPN jerked off to Reggie like what Kim used to do. (I apologize for the lewd and vulgar). But that praise should have declined at this point in Bush's career.
ESPN's logic just does not add up. The have a premise: Reggie Bush is injured and not playing. This is true. They have a conclusion: The Saints are not scoring that many points. This is also true. But to say Statement A is the reason for Statement B is the quintessential logical fallacy. I agree Reggie Bush is a lot better than any back the Saints can currently start, but I refuse to believe that he alone is the reason for the Saints mediocre offensive play.
Showing posts with label Reggie Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reggie Bush. Show all posts
The Kardashian's Love Shitty Black Athletes Who Have Not Nor Will Not Reach Their Potential
TBO has reported that Khloe Kardashian (who?) is marrying Laker Lamar Odom. Well I'm happy to report that big sister Kim is now back together with Reggie Bush.
Why I Hate Reggie Bush
I was looking on ESPN.com and there is an article in the NFL section still praising Reggie Bush and staying we should stop calling him a bust. Their argument is because of the tandem back system, Bush's numbers are deflated and thus people are judging him wrong. First of all, the Tennessee combo of Smash and Dash did very well last. Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs both got over 1000 yards last season. Carolina's Double Trouble of rookie Jonathan Stewart and should-have-been MVP DeAngelo Williams were very successful splitting time. Hell, even AP loses SOME snaps to Chester Taylor and still manages to be awesome. So there's no reason a tandem back system can't be successful for one individual player.
Secondly, by comparing other Saints RBs, I will show that Reggie Bush just flat out sucks. I wrote this is a comment but I feel a post is necessary, REGGIE BUSH SUCKS. When you compare the numbers of Bush to his teammate Pierre Thomas, you can see just how bad Bush is. See, both Thomas and Bush have the same offensive line in front of them. Normally, when you compare RBs, it becomes an unfair comparison because one RB may have a better O-line and thus make a RB look better, But when two backs have the same O-line, that means the difference numbers as ALL running back talent.
Last year. Pierre Thomas was 11th overall in DYAR and 4th overall in DVOA. This means that overall, Thomas was the 11th best overall back, and PER PLAY, he was the fourth best. So if you had to run one play, there was only three NFL backs you would prefer to have over Thomas. Then compare him to Reggie Bush. Bush was 41st in both DVOA and DYAR, 9th to last of all RBs who had significant amount of carries. Here are some backs last year that were better than Reggie Bush: Edge, Run DMC, Earnest Graham, Maurice Morris, Warrick Dunn, and Mewelde Moore.
And this trend is not just last year but throughout both players careers. Thomas has a better YPC, TD/G, and fumble/G in his career than Bush. Bush has never had more than 6 rushing TDs in a single season. Thomas had 9 last year. Thomas has 4 less receiving TDs than Bush, but also 165 less receptions. And although Thomas has been thrown to much much less and caught much much less passes than Bush, his yards per catch in his career is better. Thomas had about 20 less receptions last year and still had a better yards per catch.
However, I will give Bush some credit, he is a better kick returner than Thomas.
Pierre Thomas was undrafted free agent from Illinois that was decent at best. Reggie Bush was one of the greatest college football RBs ever, if not college football players ever, and was the #2 pick in the draft. Yet for some reason, in essentially every facet of the game, Pierre Thomas has shown to be a better running back than Reggie Bush. And both are on the same team with essentially the same players throwing and blocking for them. There is absolutely no excuse for Bush's actions because essentially all other factors besides talent have been taken out of the equation. It's really hard to make the argument that straight up, Thomas has more ability and talent than Bush because there is no indicator to prove such a thing. Maybe the way Thomas played in college was more suited for the pro game, but Reggie's back up at USC, fatboy LenDale White, has also had proven success in the NFL.
So, I believe the only rational conclusion to come to, is that: Reggie Bush sucks he was way too over-hyped there are obvious flaws in the way NFL scouts draft if Bush went #2 overall the Houston Texans are now geniuses for passing over Bush and Pierre Thomas should start for the New Orleans Saints.
Oh, did I mention that Reggie Bush sucks?
Secondly, by comparing other Saints RBs, I will show that Reggie Bush just flat out sucks. I wrote this is a comment but I feel a post is necessary, REGGIE BUSH SUCKS. When you compare the numbers of Bush to his teammate Pierre Thomas, you can see just how bad Bush is. See, both Thomas and Bush have the same offensive line in front of them. Normally, when you compare RBs, it becomes an unfair comparison because one RB may have a better O-line and thus make a RB look better, But when two backs have the same O-line, that means the difference numbers as ALL running back talent.
Last year. Pierre Thomas was 11th overall in DYAR and 4th overall in DVOA. This means that overall, Thomas was the 11th best overall back, and PER PLAY, he was the fourth best. So if you had to run one play, there was only three NFL backs you would prefer to have over Thomas. Then compare him to Reggie Bush. Bush was 41st in both DVOA and DYAR, 9th to last of all RBs who had significant amount of carries. Here are some backs last year that were better than Reggie Bush: Edge, Run DMC, Earnest Graham, Maurice Morris, Warrick Dunn, and Mewelde Moore.
And this trend is not just last year but throughout both players careers. Thomas has a better YPC, TD/G, and fumble/G in his career than Bush. Bush has never had more than 6 rushing TDs in a single season. Thomas had 9 last year. Thomas has 4 less receiving TDs than Bush, but also 165 less receptions. And although Thomas has been thrown to much much less and caught much much less passes than Bush, his yards per catch in his career is better. Thomas had about 20 less receptions last year and still had a better yards per catch.
However, I will give Bush some credit, he is a better kick returner than Thomas.
Pierre Thomas was undrafted free agent from Illinois that was decent at best. Reggie Bush was one of the greatest college football RBs ever, if not college football players ever, and was the #2 pick in the draft. Yet for some reason, in essentially every facet of the game, Pierre Thomas has shown to be a better running back than Reggie Bush. And both are on the same team with essentially the same players throwing and blocking for them. There is absolutely no excuse for Bush's actions because essentially all other factors besides talent have been taken out of the equation. It's really hard to make the argument that straight up, Thomas has more ability and talent than Bush because there is no indicator to prove such a thing. Maybe the way Thomas played in college was more suited for the pro game, but Reggie's back up at USC, fatboy LenDale White, has also had proven success in the NFL.
So, I believe the only rational conclusion to come to, is that: Reggie Bush sucks he was way too over-hyped there are obvious flaws in the way NFL scouts draft if Bush went #2 overall the Houston Texans are now geniuses for passing over Bush and Pierre Thomas should start for the New Orleans Saints.
Oh, did I mention that Reggie Bush sucks?
Reggie Bush Is Too Pretty To Play Football
Mark Schlereth may have just committed career suicide when he responded to a Reggie Bush question by flat out saying "Reggie Bush is a bad football player". A creepy silence fell over the entire espn headquarters for a solid 3 seconds, equivalent to an hour in TV time. Schlereth, knowing that his corner office was already being cleared out and all evidence of his existence going through the shredder, decided to go for broke. He basically called Bush a pussy for never putting his head down, always stepping out of bounds, and missing games due to injuries Brett Favre wouldn't even know were there. Clearly Schlereth was out shooting another scene for "the bold and the beautiful" or whatever when espn sent out the memo proclaiming Bush one of their Golden Boys. Does he not know that Bush won the Heisman Trophy, that he runs a 4.3 40, that he's spooning with Kim Kardashian. Bush's on field performance is completely arbitrary to his status as the NFL equivalent of the chosen one. Nice knowing you Mark Schlereth. Your stunning daytime drama good looks will surely be missed.
