Pony has admitted he needs help for his unwarranted Bush hatred.
He can't help himself, so forgive him.
Bush will not play football under 200-- ever. Forget about it. He is too fit and too lean. He'll just get bigger like LT did. He is considerably bigger than Portis was at the same age. Bush is just under 5-11, btw. The closest compare in height weight strength and speed at the same age is not Portis, it's Tomlinson. Bush is the same height (give an 1/4 inch), 4 pounds lighter, quite a bit faster, and somewhat stronger than LT was at the same stage.
Because I'm a sick puppy, I went through all 400 of LenDale and Reggie's runs last season. I eliminated all runs to the outside. I eliminated all short yardage (3 or less) and goal line runs. Who do you think posted the better YPC up the middle between the tackles? Yep. Reggie Bush is better between the tackles than LenDale and LenDale is very very good between the tackles.
People catch the Reggie highlights and assume he breaks everything wide. You could make the same assumption with just about any back's highlights. One of the strengths of Reggie's game is running between the tackles. There is no better back in this draft up the middle. LenDale doesn't compare, Maroney isn't as close as LenDale and DeAngelo is a distant second (he's better than credited too, btw).
Here's a scouting report from a character who's sort of anonymous, but he's been at this for years and very good at evaluating players.
1. Initial Quickness Great at snap. Hits the hole so hard and never looks back. Pad level will be at snap sometimes.2. Acceleration Great speed from a complete stop. 1 step to top speed. Won’t be caught.3. Elusiveness Great agility and quickness. Lots of shake, but under control and very smooth.4. Run Strength Can’t be arm tackled up high. Strong kid with good leg strength to carry defenders.5. Inside Running Tough in the tackles and follows blocks. Can gets ‘small’ and gain extra yards. Forward lean.6. Outside Running Speed to the corner and ability to evade defenders.7. Vision/Instincts Sees the field better than almost all backs. Amazing instincts make him so good.8. Running Style Smooth runner that can score on every play. Always runs hard. Goes N/S, won’t lose yards.9. Ball Security Switches hands to avoid Def. Had fumble problems in 2004.10. Blocking Not used often. Needs to become more physical. Lacks strength to take on backers.11. Receiving Skills Stellar hands. Separates well from D, used on wheel routes. Body control is great. Knocked off rts.Here's the same scout covering three different games.
1. Only saw the ball 8 times but still bested 100 yards without a problem. Vision is incredible. Can’t bring him down when he gets a full head of steam.
Quick, good hands and has experience splitting out. Can be knocked off routes easily. Showed great balance as well as acceleration. Quick cuts and great
shake in open field. 4 +’s and 3-‘s in pass pro. Can be tossed aside by backers, needs to improve. (1.25)
2. Phenomenal. Bush is the best player in the country and if he doesn’t go #1 there is a problem. He can do it all. His receiving skills are solid as he shows
good hands and concentration and has the speed to create separation down the field. Then, getting him the ball in open space, it is almost over for the
defense. He possesses great agility and quickness to go along with top notch acceleration and vision. His ability to start and stop and reach top speed is
stunning. But Bush isn’t just a fast guy. He is bigger than you think and can’t be arm tackled up high. He churns his legs and will pick up the hard extra
yards in the pile. He is always looking up field and scanning the field and has amazing vision and instincts. He is one of those players that can see things
before they happen. He hits the hole very hard and won’t lose many yards trying to pull a Barry Sanders. Also follows his blocks very well and can make
himself ‘small’ and hide between leading lineman. Didn’t do much returning kicks but made many people miss. (1.10)
3. There isn’t much to say. He is the best player I have seen in college football in a long time. I’ll start with the negatives. He dropped a pass in the game.
This isn’t a common thing as he is a great receiver. He only was used on pass protection two times. He did the job both times but most of the times he is in
he gets the ball so this needs to be worked on. When he hits the hole he can have a high pad level at times. Reggie has it all but what makes him so special is
his vision and his instincts. He knows what he is going to do so far in advance the defenders don’t have a chance. He feels the defense so well too. He
follows his blocks so well too. Second, he hits the hole so well. His acceleration couple with his vision allow him to always beat the first defender in the
back field. While he isn’t the biggest guy, he will run over DB’s as he has good leg drive and is well-toned in all proportions of his body. He can’t be ankle
tackled either and is hard to bring down. He is unstoppable in the open field. He has great body control to elude defenders and silly moves. He is able to
lean away from defenders to beat them but to also prevent them from making a big hit which will help his durability. Runs with a forward lean. Shows a
good stiff arm and other variety of moves. Can run inside the tackles or outside. Shows speed to corner and then up field. Always going north south unlike
a Barry Sanders. Has the route running ability to be utilized out of the backfield and is experienced lining up outside the hashes. Can run all the
plays…toss, counters, draws, guts, 1-back, 2-back. He has a ton of desire and will do whatever it takes. Good ball security and changes hands to avoid
defenders. (1.05)
He infuriates me every week, but like a car wreck, I can't help looking....
