When Reggie Bush fell to the Saints with the second overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, he was supposed to breath life into a dull franchise.
Thus far in his career, Bush has rushed for over 1,800 yards, 17 touchdowns and has caught 246 passes for 1,834 yards and nine scores. He has also returned four punts for touchdowns and has provided plenty of highlight reel plays.
That said, he hasn’t lived up to his lofty draft status and chances are, he never will. He can’t run effectively and consistently between the tackles, he doesn’t pick up the blitz very well and he’s an injury waiting to happen. It probably isn’t entirely fair to suggest that he’s been a bust so far in his career, but he’s overpaid for what he brings to the field each week.
Following the Saints’ dramatic overtime win in Washington last week, Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote that Bush appears to be in coach Sean Payton’s dog house for his performance against the Redskins.
Sean Payton told Fox broadcasters he wanted to limit Bush to 20 snaps in the game, but Payton clearly grew frustrated with Bush near the end of the first half. First, Bush took a screen pass and nonchalantly stepped out of bounds short of the first down after a nine-yard gain. The Saints subsequently failed to convert the first down when Bush was tackled for a loss on third-and-1. Later, Bush was blown up and knocked off his feet by Brian Orapko as he attempted to run a route on a screen pass in the right flat, resulting in an incomplete pass. The play prompted Payton to demonstratively motion to Thomas to go into the game and replace Bush. Fox cameras caught Payton addressing an emotional Bush on the sidelines after the play. It was the 10th snap of the half for Bush but it looked like substitution was rooted in Payton’s dissatisfaction with Bush’s performance rather than his concern over snap counts. In fact, Bush did not play again until the final 30 seconds of the game, when Payton inserted him in the two-minute offense. Thomas replaced Bush in the two-minute offense on the previous series, which resulted in a game-tying touchdown catch by Robert Meachem.
Last week, Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports reported that the Saints do not plan on bringing Bush back in 2010. According to Cole’s report, GM Mickey Loomis doesn’t want to pay Bush’s salary even if 2010 is an uncapped season. And who could blame him? Bush is a change-of-pace back that is battling knee problems and is averaging just over nine touches a game in 2009.
Perhaps the next four weeks and the playoffs will be a telling sign of whether or not the Saints will part ways with Bush in the offseason. If he doesn’t figure much in Payton’s offensive game plan, then one could only assume that Reggie won’t be in black and gold next season.
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