Devin Bush excelling early in rookie season
As a top ten pick in the NFL Draft, you'll have high expectations wherever you go. The weight of helping transform a franchise from pretender to contender is placed on the shoulders of each player almost immediately, at least from a fan's perspective.
So when a team jumps from the 20's into the top ten while mortgaging future draft capital to make the move, a tad of extra pressure is added on. Let's add in that said team (the Pittsburgh Steelers) hails a historic, extensive list of highly-talented linebackers and chooses you to be next in line. Sprinkle a rabid fan base that literally wraps newborn children with Terrible Towel's in that equation, and you have one hefty order for a kid fresh out of college.
Enter: Devin Bush Jr.
Bush's talent coming into the 2019 NFL Draft was unquestioned, as he filled all the boxes of a modern day NFL linebacker. Strength? Bush blows up running backs left and right. Speed? The man beat Saquon Barkley in a foot race to the sideline for goodness sake. Pass coverage? Bush defended 11 passes his last two seasons at Michigan.
Yet some were concerned about his size (5-11, 234 lbs) and most had him behind the other Devin, LSU linebacker Devin White. The two players were nearly similar in many scouts' eyes, although White was the more favorable prospect heading into the draft and landed as the fifth overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In a tremendous breakdown between Bush/White by Cover1.net, they had this to say following the NFL Combine:
"In regards to LB1 and LB2, the gap between these two linebackers is nearly negligible. We all have Devin White as our top linebacker, but it’s pretty obvious that Devin Bush isn’t too far behind."
With little discrepancy between the two players, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert knew he had a chance to reel Bush in once White was taken fifth overall.
"Devin was very high on our board. And as we said the other day when we did the pre-draft conference, if a player is high on your board and he gets within reach, then you make the necessary moves to go up and get him" said Colbert in a joint press conference with Mike Tomlin following the draft. "Fortunately, we found a trade partner in Denver. But really it was where Devin was on our board. We thought that highly of him. I don’t want to say it was an easy trade to make, but it was easy in our minds to pick him with the 10th pick."
After a whirlwind of a night that went against every grain of Colbert's draft day history, the Steelers got their guy to anchor the middle of their defense for the foreseeable future, a hole left open since the departure of Ryan Shazier.
It's unthinkable to replace Shazier on a physical or emotional level in Pittsburgh. The legacy he's built on and off the field for the team and city is second to none in terms of hope/inspiration. However, that won't stop the comparisons. Coach Tomlin on Bush after his first preseason game:
"Really kind of reminiscent of Ryan Shazier’s performance in his first home preseason game a number of years ago in terms of production and getting around and making a number of plays.”
That's certainly high praise coming from Tomlin. It's even better coming from Shazier himself, who has become a mentor to all the linebackers in the locker room, yet has drifted towards Bush in-particularly. Hunter Homistek from DKPittsburghSports.com wrote a fascinating piece on Shazier and his current presence in the locker room.
"Honestly, his presence is already something, you know?" Bush said to Homistek in the locker room. "Just him being here, him being able to lay eyes on me, that's helped me a lot."
The hype surrounding Bush began to evolve before he played a single down for Pittsburgh with the simple selection of his jersey number. Bush selected #55, formerly worn by Joey Porter, a fan favorite and key member of the 2000's Steelers defenses.
“Obviously, an intense player, impactful player, and he definitely left a legacy here" said Bush on choosing the number via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I’m here to match it.”
We heard great things about Bush through training camp, although Bush revealed on the Arthur Moats Experience his "welcome to the NFL moment" came during camp when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sliced and diced him during passing drills. After an impressive preseason debut that featured ten tackles, fans began singing praises of Bush before any meaningful football was played. The hype was beginning to turn into realization for many in Pittsburgh.
Come time for the regular season, many wondered precisely how Bush would be deployed in the team's opening game against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Coach Tomlin promised to ease Bush in the defense, favoring free agent signing Mark Barron and Vince Williams to start in place of the rookie.
After a lackluster outing by Barron, the writing on the wall was clear: Play your best players. Bush qualified as a better option from the first snap.
Fast forward to the present (a few days before the Steelers battle with the Chargers on Sunday Night Football). The Devin Bush hype has dissolved nearly to it's entirety. To quote star running back Boobie Miles from Friday Night Lights, "Now hype is something that's not for real... I'm all real.”
Bush's snap count has increased significantly since week one, and rightfully so. After week two, Bush has yet to play under 90% of the Steelers' defensive plays, including two games where he lined up for every snap. Bush's overall snap count ranks second among linebackers only behind outside linebacker Bud Dupree.
The results? Through five weeks of play, Bush currently leads all rookies in tackles (45) and is tied for first in the league for fumble recoveries (3) while amassing 2 passes defended, 1 interception and 1 sack.
The interception was pretty remarkable, too.
Bush now finds himself as one of the favorites to earn defensive rookie of the year honors, a feat last accomplished in Pittsburgh when linebacker Kendrell Bell earned the title in 2001.
Heading into week six, the Steelers lead the league with 12 forced turnovers thus far, a remarkable feat considering where Pittsburgh's defense was just a season ago. Bush is not solely responsible for the turnaround, as the acquisition of Minkah Fitzpatrick along with additional help from everywhere else have factored into the Steelers playing some of their best defensive football in some time.
Yet there's no denying the impact Bush has had in the small amount of time he's been in black and gold. Times are somewhat dark in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 1-4, and are on the brink of pushing themselves out of the playoff race before it starts. Injuries are piling up, trade rumors swirl around their head coach, and practices are heating up in terms of physicality, whether preferred by Tomlin or not.
Bush is by no means immune to criticism, either. Despite the favorable pass coverage over players such as Barron or Tyler Matakevich, teams have been able to throw over Bush's coverage for completions more times than not. While Bush continues to log high snap counts, the rookie mistakes will come, whether it be filling wrong gaps or blowing coverage.
Despite reading the last thousand or so words, it's important for people to understand Bush is far from getting fitted for his gold jacket. The room for growth in Bush's game is exponential, and we hopefully haven't came close to seeing his potential as a football player. Yet Bush continues to make strides week by week. Forget the production on the stat-sheet, the visible progression we have seen in such a short time exudes excitement for Steelers fans, as it should.
Greatness was expected out of Bush the moment he heard his name called at the 2019 NFL Draft. Despite those doubting his size, health or simply favoring the other Devin through the draft process, Bush has excelled in nearly every facet since his arrival in Pittsburgh.
Kevin Colbert has only traded up twice in the first round prior to 2019. Once was to select future first-ballot Hall of Fame player Troy Polamalu, and the other was to select future Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes.
Needless to say, Bush has quite the pair of shoes to fill. Yet at Bush's current rate of growth, the seams of those shoes may be splitting one day.
