http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...olina_panthers
Is Reggie Bush the perfect prospect?
USC rusher can do it all, and insists he'll hold up as a feature back
STAN OLSON
solson@charlotteobserver.com
So how good is Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush, really?
"He's the highest rated player I've ever done in 11 years," said Carolina Panthers college scouting director Tony Softli. "He can do it all; return kicks and punts, you can split him out as a receiver, his abilities with the football are obvious.
"He's a jack of all trades and master of all of them."
Rest assured that Bush will be the first player chosen when the 2006 NFL draft kicks off Saturday. If Houston keeps the first pick, it will take him. If the Texans trade the selection, some other team will.
The only question left is how Bush's remarkable talent will translate in the pro game.
"In my opinion with Reggie Bush, more may be less and less could be more," said Cleveland general manager Phil Savage. "Whichever team takes Reggie, if they utilize him in the right way he can still be a Heisman Trophy winner at the pro level, even if he's only touching the ball 10 or 15 times a game.
"I think when you get in a situation at his size, 200 pounds or so, when you're carrying it 20 or 25 times a game for 16 games, that's almost an impossibility for somebody to do that the way the game is played right now."
Bush's size (he's 5-foot-11 and 201 pounds) prompts many NFL observers to agree with Savage. Bush begs to differ.
"I like to think of myself as an every-down back," he said. "That's something that I feel like I want to, I guess, emphasize to whatever team that takes me, that I can be an every-down back, even though I'm not the biggest guy.
"I'm not 220 pounds, but I can still carry the load and be in there when the game is on the line. Obviously I'm going to want the ball in my hands, I'm a playmaker."
Bush has been compared most often to St. Louis' Marshall Faulk. The 5-foot-10, 211-pound Faulk, a seven-time 1,000-yard rusher and a quality receiver, has carried an average of 20 times a game in just one of his 13 seasons.
"I can see where people would make that comparison because of the way the St. Louis Rams use him and the way I was used at USC," Bush said.
Bush, though, believes as his metabolism slows down, he can add the weight he might need to help absorb the NFL's constant pounding. Others think that will be a necessity.
"He may have to change his style a bit and put on some more weight if possible, because running over people like he did in college isn't something he can do at the next level," Softli said.
The weight might take some time, if it ever comes. For his part, Bush doesn't want to wait to become an every-down back.
"I'm going to work hard at proving to people that I can be an every-down back," he said. "Obviously I want to be in there.
"If I could, I'd (carry the) ball every play."
Reggie Bush
Bush Thinks that he is an every down back
Linear Mode
