Reggie Bush: Forgotten Gold In The Passing Game

 

Reggie Bush has always been thought of as a receiving running back.  He’s the type of player that can slip pass the line, sit down in a hole in the zone and make something incredible happen.  It is one of the skills that he has that made him a Heisman Trophy winner, and the second over-all draft selection in 2006.

His ability to make jaw-dropping plays is what makes him such a dangerous weapon, and the opposing teams know this, just like they knew it about Marshal Faulk.  They knew they had to stay after Faulk, just like they do Reggie, and simply pray an opening does not appear in front of him when he has the ball in his hands because it could spell trouble for their team.  The difference is, Faulk was used as the offensive weapon he was, and Reggie Bush is not.

The issues with the run game of the Miami Dolphins has been a central focus for the team for the majority of the season.  It took just four weeks for NFL defenses to get a read on Mike Sherman’s rushing schemes, and as a result, the production from the Miami backfield declined.  There have been many thoughts given on the subject, but there has been no real solution, and for the most part it has seemed like the Dolphins coaching staff switched gears, focusing instead on the arm of their rookie quarterback, Ryan Tannehill.

Except, they are forgetting Reggie Bush as a part of that focus.

It is fairly safe to say that Bush is the most explosive player on the Dolphins offense.  He has a history of success at receiving out of the backfield, with 10 receiving touchdowns to his name when he came to Miami.  I two years with the Dolphins, just one.  This season he has just 24 catches, as opposed to 43 last season.  Exclude an injury shortened 2010, and both of those are career lows.

It makes no sense that he is overlooked in this way, and Bush feels the same way, but is to much of a professional to make a big deal about it.  When asked at his press availability on Wednesday, Bush was asked about him not being used more in the passing attack:

“Yeah, I wonder about it, but it’s not really my decision to make. I think that the tape is there, the proof is there. If they need me to go out and run routes, I think they know that I can do it and I’ve done it in practice. It’s just a matter of scheme and how they feel. When my number is called, I try to go out there and make plays. But I think they know that I can go out there and do that. I think everybody knows that.”

It makes no sense for Mike Sherman and Joe Philbin to not be designing plays to give Bush a chance to make a play.  The talk continues each week how the wide receivers in Miami are not number one receiver quality, so why would Miami not do everything they can to help Tannehill out?

Bush says it himself ”it’s on tape” and “everybody knows it.”  Another thing that is everybody is starting to know is that Bush probably won’t be in Miami in 2013-14.

Instead he will be on another team, and likely getting properly used as the offensive weapon he truly is.

 

Jeff Everette is a Featured Columnist for www.RantSports.com, covering the NFL and NBA.  Follow Jeff on twitter @jeverettesports, like his page on FaceBook, or add his Google + to your circles for all of his latest articles, thoughts, and rants.