Many people are laughing at Miami Dolphins’ running back
Reggie Bush’s statement that he wants to win the rushing title this season. Bush
who was a dynamic Heisman-award winning running back in college had his first
1,000-yard season as a pro in 2011; his sixth year in the league.
Last season was also the first time in a long time that Bush
was able to stay healthy. He has been injury-plagued throughout his career
which is one of the reasons people are laughing off his desire to be the league’s
rushing leader.
What people don’t understand is that his former team, the
New Orleans Saints, isn’t really much of a running team. Saints’ coach Sean
Payton knew how good of a receiver Bush was and how dangerous he was in the
open field which is why Payton utilized him so much in the passing game.
Bush was more likely to come off a screen or line up in the
slot than receive a handoff in the Saints’ offense which is why he had more
receiving yardage than rushing yards in three of his five seasons in New
Orleans.
With Bush’s ability to line up all over the field, the Saints
were able to change formations on the fly and keep defenses off balance similar
to how Marshall Faulk was used during his time with the St. Louis Rams.
If only Bush would have had Faulk’s durability then his
desire to win the rushing title wouldn’t be an issue. Faulk never led the
league in rushing either during his 12-year career but Faulk was able to achieve
a more unique feat during his career by having a 1,000 yards rushing and
receiving in the same season.
Faulk is one of only two people to accomplish that feat in
the history of the league and Bush has that same kind of potential. Bush caught
88 passes in his first year in the league and his 1,086 yards on the ground
last season shows that he can get it done on that side of the ball if he stays
healthy.
And with the lack of
talent the Dolphins have in their receiving corps, there should be plenty of
balls to toss Bush’s way. If Bush can stay healthy he may have the chance to
achieve a feat that only two other people in history have done and finally live
up to the hype of being the 2nd-overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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