With free agency just hours away, it seems like it’s now inevitable that free agent running back Reggie Bush will become a Lion. In fact when it comes to Bush I don’t think we’ve seen any one player or coach be recruited this hard since Mooch was brought to Detroit. Fans on blogs and social media, players on Twitter, players on ESPN have been openly campaigning for the Bush to come to Detroit.
The question though with Reggie Bush is whether or not he’s worth it?Right off the top Bush is expected to get between $4 and 5 million a year with upwards of a four year commitment. So, is the bark more than the bite or does his bite match the bark? Let’s find out.
In seven NFL seasons Bush has played 91 games of a possible 112 so immediately you wonder how much a 28 year old back can take in a full NFL season from here on out. Miami tried running him between the tackles last year and he got a little banged up. Bush has 22 fumbles to his credit and lost 12 of them. He also isn’t coming in and rushing the football 250 times, it’s just not part of his game.
But let me tell you why he works for the Lions.
In all fairness regarding the health aspect, Bush has played 31 of the last 32 games and showed his toughness with last year’s performance. He toughed out some nagging injuries and had a better second half of the season than the first. His 8 fumbles (4 lost) over the past 2 years in Miami is still a concern but his workload did increase and that number not being higher based on previous seasons does show improvement.
With Bush added to this line up it will open up Calvin Johnson. I’m sure we all remember the season Calvin Johnson had last year. We all remember the yardage he accumulated compared to his touchdown total (4). But overall Detroit had excessive amounts of trouble finding the end zone in 2012 and here’s why. Detroit went from putting up almost 30 a game in 2011, to under 24 a game in 2012. This was the case mainly because teams were able to contain CJ and keep him out of the end zone. Enter Reggie Bush, his 48 touchdowns in 7 seasons, his dynamic play making ability and explosiveness in the backfield and you potentially open up Megatron.
Now Bush isn’t going to pound the ball between the tackles and Detroit isn’t going to ask him too. He will be more of a running back used in the passing game and has the speed to make Detroit fans stop complaining about the loss of Jahvid Best. Swing passes and pitch outs will be a nice friend to a offense that struggled with speed. Bush would make a safety pay for having a bracket on Johnson and would give the Lions’ opposition two players on the offensive side of the ball to account for.
I don’t see Bush as this 1000 yard back rushing the football but there’s no reason to think he can’t give Detroit 1300 all purpose yards with 8 TD’s. Bush has the hands of a wide receiver and could become a nice check down for Stafford.
Bottom line adding Reggie Bush has risk, I can’t deny it. I do however think he is worth it. Lions fans will enjoy the first 2 years of his deal and possibly the third if he can stay healthy. We may regret the contract in a year or two, but getting some explosiveness in the offense is needed.
As much as I ragged on the defense last year we cannot ignore the fact the Lions failed time and time again to score.
