Speed makes Saints' rookie Bush deadly

Zero2Cool · Sep 15, 2006

T. Culver has four tackles on Bush. Notice one of them was on a 65 yard run.

By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

The Green Bay Packers coaches can stay up all night watching film, but if they want to know what they're up against Sunday when they face New Orleans Saints rookie Reggie Bush, they need only to quiz one of their own players.

Rookie safety Tyrone Culver is believed to be the only player in the Packers' locker room who has lined up face-to-face with Bush, the No. 2 overall pick in April's draft. Culver played against Bush on Nov. 19, when his Fresno State Bulldogs lost to Bush's Southern California Trojans, 50-42, in one of college football's most exciting games last season.

Culver, a sixth-round draft pick and a backup safety for the Packers, recorded four tackles and one sack in that game. All four of his tackles were of Bush. They came at the end of runs of 65, 35 and 7 yards and at the end of a 43-yard reception.

"You have to understand what kind of player he is," Culver said. "His first two steps, his acceleration, he gets out on the edge in a hurry. Just his speed, you've got to be ready for that."

Bush, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, is arguably the most dynamic rookie to enter the NFL since Michael Vick in 2001 or Randy Moss in 1998.

In the Saints 19-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Bush caught a team-high eight passes for 58 yards. Only three players in the NFL -- Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez, Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald and Indianapolis' Marvin Harrison -- caught more passes in Week 1. Splitting time in the backfield with Deuce McAllister, Bush rushed for 61 yards on 14 carries (a 4.4-yard average). His longest gain was 18 yards and had several near-misses for longer runs.

His combined 119 yards from scrimmage would put him on pace for 1,904 yards. The NFL record for a rookie is 2,212 yards, set by Eric Dickerson in 1983.

Throw in Bush's 22 yards on three punt returns and he had 141 total net yards, which would put him on pace for 2,256 total net yards. The NFL record for a rookie is 2,317, set by Tim Brown in 1988.

Though he's not even a starter -- he's behind McAllister -- Bush already has become the focal point of the Saints' offense. Rookie coach Sean Payton, a former offensive coordinator who calls the plays, has followed USC coach Pete Carroll's blueprint by using Bush in a variety of ways.

Against the Browns, Bush lined up as a traditional halfback, as a running back who went in motion, as a slot receiver and as an outside receiver.

"It's real similar to the way USC used him," Culver said. "He's all over the place. Like when (USC) had LenDale White in the backfield, they'd move (Bush) out. It's the same way with him and McAllister. They're motioning Bush out, shifting him and trying to keep you on your toes."

NFL defensive coordinators will no doubt come up with ways to try to slow down Bush. If the Packers have anything special planned, they're not saying.

"When you install a system, you've got to have it built into your system to take away featured players," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "We have that capability."

By moving Bush around, Payton and the Saints are trying to create mismatches like getting a slower, less agile linebacker or safety covering him when he's running a passing route. If the Packers play their base defense against him, any of their three linebackers -- Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk or Brady Poppinga -- could end up covering Bush. If they go nickel (and replace Poppinga with a cornerback Ahmad Carroll), he could be matched up against either of the two remaining linebackers, a safety or the slot cornerback, which is Charles Woodson.

If Hawk is matched up against Bush, it will be an interesting study in the difference between a player chosen No. 2 in the draft and one chosen fifth, such as Hawk was.

"Once you're with your team, it doesn't matter if you were a free agent, a seventh-round pick or a first-round pick," Hawk said. "That all goes out the door once you get here. You just produce regardless of where he was picked or where I was picked."

In 14 drafts before the one in which Bush and Hawk were taken, the difference between the players chosen in those two spots was negligible in some years and immense in others.

Take, for example, the 2003 draft, when Detroit drafted receiver Charles Rogers at No. 2 and Dallas took cornerback Terrence Newman at No. 5. Rogers was a bust and is out of the league, having been cut by the Lions at the end of training camp this year, and Newman is the on the cusp of being a Pro Bowler. A year earlier, however, the No. 2 pick (Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers) has been a far more productive player than the No. 5 pick (San Diego cornerback Quentin Jammer).

In both the 2000 and 2001 drafts, the No. 5 pick turned out to better than the No. 2. In 2000, Washington took linebacker LaVar Arrington at No. 2, and Baltimore followed three picks later with running back Jamal Lewis. The next year, Arizona took tackle Leonard Davis second, and San Diego drafted running back LaDainian Tomlinson fifth.

In 1998, both picks flamed out when San Diego took quarterback Ryan Leaf at No. 2 and Chicago grabbed running back Curtis Enis at No. 5. In 1992, it was much the same, when Indianapolis took linebacker Quentin Coryatt with the second pick and the Packers got cornerback Terrell Buckley at No. 5.

Speed makes Saints' rookie Bush deadly

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Speed makes Saints' rookie Bush deadly

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