Originally Posted by
El-Gonzo Jackson
First, its difficult to compare STATS from 2 different players, in 2 different defenses, some 4-5 years apart. Bush is part of such a talented defense, that often guys up front on the D line are making tackles before the ball gets to 2nd level....or teams are throwing passes downfield to challenge the CB's. You may think that Bush is slow to react in pass plays on film, but he is just playing zone in the middle of the field and spying the QB's a lot. Here is my breakdown
vs. Run
Positives-Bush rarely takes a false step and is always moving forward on runs between the tackles. Likewise, he has a quick read step and has speed to get to the edge on off tackle, pitches or outside zone runs. Takes good angles, uses hands to shed blockers on the way to the football and sure tackler.
Negatives- can get caught up in blocks between the tackles, where the Interior linemen are outweighing him and he doesn't have long arms to shiver and get off them as well as bigger LB.
vs. Pass
-Positives- he is very fast and fluid athlete. Knows his responsibility and quickly finds his man in man coverage and runs with them, so most QB's didn't throw at his receiver when covered so well. In zone, he mostly had the middle zone and he stepped to crossing routes well, although a lot of teams I saw on tape didn't run a lot of crossing routes inside, so he is just standing and reading QB and spying. He reacts well to WR screens and gets to the edge quickly.
-Negatives- lacks height and arm length, so taller TE's can reach over him to catch passes. Likes contact, so can get a bit grabby or aggressive in rerouting the TE and he stops his feet when hitting them. Lack of height may not take away zone passing lanes well, but Michigan played a lot of man coverage in their secondary, so wasn't a responsibility a lot.
Summary- Bush is a technician at ILB, as he takes decisive read steps forward at every snap, quickly finds the football and keeps his feet moving towards it. He covers backs and TE's in man very well, but often can give away size to them. He is quick and fast to the edges, quick to get to a gap between the tackles, but not a big thumper in the middle that will get off blocks of 300lb OG's. Good blitzer, plays with an edge and was a leader.
My best pro comparison is Jonathan Vilma and I still think the 5'11" height, shorter arms will push him towards the 15-25 range. But its possible that some teams will view him as a shorter Bobby Wagner and he could go earlier.