The Evolution of Bush's Role...

As an intial matter, I think that it is a mistake to look soley at production at the expense of presence. I disagree with the "Sportscenter" mentality that one who is not producing highlights is not helping his team. Some people's milage varies on that point.

To answer your question, I think that people's paradigm has shifted because the offense is efficient and productive and has lots of weapons. Based on the Brooks/Haz offense of the last few years, we needed a playmaker. Bush needed to score on 80 yard touchdown runs because if he ever got tackled then Brooks would just fumble the ball away on the subsequent snap. Basically, we felt we needed the greatest playmaker in history--someone who might just be able to counteract the enormous quantity of suck that was our offense.

Now, we have an offense that has done better than expected. Deuce started the year strong, not on crutches. Brees is getting mentioned in MVP consideration, not sitting there with his shoulder in a sling. Colston is getting rookie of the year mention, when 9 months ago not even Mel Kiper knew who he was. Our patchwork offensive line is doing way better than I ever thought they could.

Basically, we don't NEED Reggie to be Superman like we thought that we would. We just need him to be one part of a great offense. So, we are not upset that he isn't Superman.

Finally, I throw props to anyone who uses the word paradigm and has a Tecmo signature.