A Preposterous Suggestion

1 comment so far May 3, 2006 by Steve Hanway

When all is said and done, free agent Cory Ross and #2 overall draft pick Reggie Bush could put up similar numbers. If you’ve been buying the NFL draft machine hype, you’d never suggest such a thing. Nevertheless, it could happen.

Neither player has the size to be a big workhorse type back. Bush never got the number of carries most All Americans (like say, Ricky Williams) did. Both can punish teams with their receiving ability. But ultimately, neither are usually the best option to run between the tackles on 3rd and 1. If there's any question, recall that in the Rose Bowl when USC probably needed only to convert a 4th and short to win the game, it was LenDale White and not Bush who got the call. That’s the way it was for Bush all season and the way it is likely to be in 2006 with Deuce McAllister (all 230 lbs. of him) still on the Saints roster.

I’m not suggesting that Ross has as much ability as Bush. But ability isn’t everything, it also takes a lot of hard work and the right opportunity. With Jamal Lewis declining (and some undistinguished backups) in Baltimore, Ross could well find himself contributing regularly in a 3rd down role and as a change of pace back. If injuries happened, who knows maybe he’d even start.

I’d be stunned if Bush gets even 240 carries (15 per game over a 16 game season) any time soon. Backs his size usually can’t take much more than that (or else they find themselves sidelined by injury). Bush won’t see the kind of holes that his USC offensive line provided in college. He also will face vastly superior defenders compared to what he usually saw in college. He’ll get plenty of opportunities to prove otherwise, but the Saints may well find that he’s really only built to be a 3rd down, change of pace back in the NFL. Hmm, sounds familiar.

I’m not saying all 3rd down backs are the same. Ross at best may turn out like the Patriots Kevin Faulk. Bush could be the next Tiki Barber (who showed he could be a major weapon, even if he can't move the pile in short yardage situations). But if Ross lives up to his potential and Bush doesn’t. What do you have? Two third down backs who’ll do similar amounts of damage in the NFL. Blasphemy to the hype machine selling Bush but not all that preposterous when you think about it.

Did you enjoy this article?

Get Husker news by email
Follow us on Twitter

NextPrevious