What are we to expect from Bush this year? (1 Viewer)

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

I've heard that the reason bush hasn't really progressed that much is because he doesn't try to get better all that much; he is more focused on his endorsements (and probably kim kardashian) than he is on improving as a football player. Also i heard that the saints are possibly looking to trade him if he has a good season in 2008, partly because of the above and partly because he is not liked that much in the locker room.

Who have you heard this from? There's a difference between Saints management and Lil John from across the street.

 

[meily]

I've heard that the reason bush hasn't really progressed that much is because he doesn't try to get better all that much; he is more focused on his endorsements (and probably kim kardashian) than he is on improving as a football player. Also i heard that the saints are possibly looking to trade him if he has a good season in 2008, partly because of the above and partly because he is not liked that much in the locker room.

Sorry, not trying to call you a liar, but if this is true, it would of been reported on just about every sports radio station and tv station, specially with the year the Saints and Bush had...and why do people keep bring up Kim Kardashian? is Reggie the only guy in the league with a girlfriend? does your girlfriend distract you from work? thats so small to me and so sad that people use it as an excuse as to why reggie is struggling.

Reggie is something of a cash cow for the Saints and the city of NO, so you saying they might trade him makes your post even more unbelievable, he brings/brought to much positive attention to this city not to mention jersey sales.

guys like Clayton, Mortenson, Jim Glazer would of reported this already if any of it was true, specially Mortenson he is hardly ever right...sot his would of been right up his alley.

 

[msu_cannon]

everyone needs to realize that reggie is not going to be worth the hype & money the saints organization set for him. exciting playmaker?..... yes, but with the 2nd overall pick in the draft at a skill position, and the money he is getting paid, we need a runningback to be a runningback between the tackles.... and for those who argue that he is a "special" talent and needs "special" assignments in the offense, what is so special about an undersized rb with limited roles. i will never question his work ethic bc i think he works as hard as anyone on the team and genuinely wants to win, but don't expect him to be as effective as a marshall faulk or westbrook bc imo i don't see it happening.

 

[Guitarzan]

limited role? his touches and production haven't been limited. He had a great rookie season and a bit above average sophmore season. I feel that if Reggie tries hard enough he'll be as good both of those guys.

 

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

everyone needs to realize that reggie is not going to be worth the hype & money the saints organization set for him. exciting playmaker?..... yes, but with the 2nd overall pick in the draft at a skill position, and the money he is getting paid, we need a runningback to be a runningback between the tackles.... and for those who argue that he is a "special" talent and needs "special" assignments in the offense, what is so special about an undersized rb with limited roles. i will never question his work ethic bc i think he works as hard as anyone on the team and genuinely wants to win, but don't expect him to be as effective as a marshall faulk or westbrook bc imo i don't see it happening.

May I ask why?

What have you not seen in Reggie's first two years that would make you think he won't be as good as Westbrook? IMO, Faulk was an unbelievable talent and I could see Reggie not garnering the success Faulk earned, but Westbrook is just a really solid RB with great hands and is in a system that utilizes his talents maybe as good as or better than any other player in the NFL.

IMO, If Coach learns how to use Reggie better, and Reggie learns how to be more decisive when running with the ball, he will be better than Westbrook right there. For Reggie to get to Faulks level, he will need to evolve a bunch of areas.

 

[msu_cannon]

May I ask why?

What have you not seen in Reggie's first two years that would make you think he won't be as good as Westbrook?

westbrook is a threat as a rb between the tackles as well as everything reggie can do with a swing pass or a screen... once again i don't doubt his potential but it isn't just another dimension to the running game to run between the tackles in the nfl, it's a necessity. look at how many rb's last year came in off of injury and performed better than reggie, be it running or as another receiver in the backfield. i hope he proves me wrong, but until he shows enough power to be a real rb rather than a hybrid, he's not as hard to gameplan as advertised

 

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

May I ask why?

What have you not seen in Reggie's first two years that would make you think he won't be as good as Westbrook?

westbrook is a threat as a rb between the tackles as well as everything reggie can do with a swing pass or a screen... once again i don't doubt his potential but it isn't just another dimension to the running game to run between the tackles in the nfl, it's a necessity. look at how many rb's last year came in off of injury and performed better than reggie, be it running or as another receiver in the backfield. i hope he proves me wrong, but until he shows enough power to be a real rb rather than a hybrid, he's not as hard to gameplan as advertised

Go look at Westbrooks first 2 seasons with the eagles and tell me who had better stats through two years. Westbrook has evolved throught the many years he's been playing...he wasn't always this good..as a matter of fact the Eagles weren't even sure if he was the guy until he blew up last year, which I think is year 5 for him.

 

[msu_cannon]

Go look at Westbrooks first 2 seasons with the eagles and tell me who had better stats through two years. Westbrook has evolved throught the many years he's been playing...he wasn't always this good..as a matter of fact the Eagles weren't even sure if he was the guy until he blew up last year, which I think is year 5 for him.

My point exactly, which is why I said "until he learns to run between the tackles." I remember those days for westbrook also. But westbrook has done what not many rb's have and that's added a major dimension to his running game (even though he's never averaged less than 4 yds/carry). thats why i say don't expect too much out of reggie bc i still don't think it's likely he overcomes his lack of power.

 

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

My point exactly, which is why I said "until he learns to run between the tackles." I remember those days for westbrook also. But westbrook has done what not many rb's have and that's added a major dimension to his running game. thats why i say don't expect too much out of reggie bc i still don't think it's likely he overcomes his lack of power.

You are either contradicting yourself or claiming to know the future.....:dunno: With Reggie's skillset, why would Westbrook be able to successfully evolve into a solid between the tackles guy, but Reggie wouldn't, when in actuality Reggie has shown MORE as a between the tackles guy than Westbrook at this point in his career?

We have seen Reggie run between the tackles successfully, he just hasn't done it consistently. So now that we know he CAN do it and has done it, why assume he won't in the future?

 

[meily]

You are either contradicting yourself or claiming to know the future.....:dunno: With Reggie's skillset, why would Westbrook be able to successfully evolve into a solid between the tackles guy, but Reggie wouldn't, when in actuality Reggie has shown MORE as a between the tackles guy than Westbrook at this point in his career?

We have seen Reggie run between the tackles successfully, he just hasn't done it consistently. So now that we know he CAN do it and has done it, why assume he won't in the future?

good points, I think people wanna over analyize his problems in the run game, when its really a lack of patience and ball security, things that can be fixed, he has shown plenty of times in a game that he can get yrds between the tackle, he has proven to be a capable short yardage runner, what he hasnt shown is the ability to do both consistently, he doesnt get low enough in the run game (which results in fumbles and nicks from taking unessasary blows) Reggie's problem at runningback are no different than any other runner that came in this league with high hopes but came out slow, there to impatient, there playing like there in college, its hard to stop doing something that always worked (college or pro's) you have to adjust....he needs to adjust.


I think its just to easy to just say "he cant do it" specially since we have seen many runningbacks come in and not produce (rushing numbers wise) right off the bat...or some that start good but tail off for one reason or another....I think we dont give Reggie the benefit of the doubt because he is a Saint(and we see him game in and game out...which makes people patience thin), just like i'm sure there were alot of people on the Eagles and Giants board at time that complained about Brian and Tiki...or anyboard for that matter when a teams prize player isnt living up to what they think he should be doing, regardless of position.

 

[Saintree River]

Anyone remember those stickers that said "Finally, a Bush we can all agree on"?? What happened to those days?

 

[aflciosaints]

no part of the trade thing about bush is that he is going to ask for another huge contract and the saints don't or won't want to pay him as much as he will ask for, heard it from someone who is basically the saints sideline reporter and "insider"

as much as i hate to think that that could happen, it seems plausible

 

[00saints00]

I have a lot to say so stay with me here.

After Deuce went down, Reggie was used far too conventionally. Peyton was trying to establish the run, but he outsmarted himself by calling mainly variants of a HB dive. He was talking about teams expecting Reggie to be almost exclusively an outside runner and trying to balance him. He went a little overboard on that.

At USC they ran a lot of zone blocking runs with Reggie. ZB takes advantage of Reggie's quickness and cutback ability, and lets him choose his own hole. He often looks hesitant hitting the hole in the NFL, I think this is mainly because of the clocking scheme.

In college Reggie also got a lot of down field blocking from linemen. In most of his highlights in college and the pros you can usually see him dodging around linemen. Blockers need to finish the play.

In the passing game there was way too much suicide swing. There were almost no screens, motion out wide or even routes out of the backfield. Payton needs to watch some film on Marshall Faulk, Thurman Thomas and Brian Westbrook and use Reggie like that.

Reggie needs to learn the game. Brees called him one of the finest athletes he had every seen, but not a great NFL player, or something like that. He's been getting by on his athleticism his entire career and he needs some time to adjust to the increase of athleticism by everyone around him. He has great moves but he still needs to adapt. It took OJ Simpson 5 years to get going. Hopefully it doesn't take Reggie that long, but it can take time. Reggie can be an every down back, he and Westbrook are the same size.

 

[saintkev]

A balanced budget and to win the war on terrorism