During their recent defensive struggles, there have been minimal positives for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It doesn’t take much searching to find the negatives. The biggest negative of all, though, has been third year inside linebacker Devin Bush. After suffering a torn ACL last year, Bush’s level of play has simply fallen off a cliff. Whatever the reason for his drop-off, Pittsburgh needs to reduce Bush’s snaps if they are serious about turning their season around and making a push for the playoffs.
Devin Bush Needs to See His Playing Time Reduced
Reasons for Struggle
While it has been easy to pile on Bush for his performance, there are many factors that go into his struggles. First, and most obviously, there is the ACL injury. During his rookie season and prior to his knee injury in 2020, Bush was a true playmaker on the Steelers defense. Coming out of college, he was a tremendous athlete. His sideline-to-sideline range was intriguing for Pittsburgh, who drafted Bush with the idea of replacing Ryan Shazier. For a player who relies so heavily on athleticism and quick-twitch movements, it’s no surprise that Bush is struggling just a year removed from his torn ACL. Though he is healthy enough to play, he may not be fully recovered. That may also have taken a mental toll on Bush.
Beyond the injury, there are other factors affecting Bush’s play. First, the Steelers are playing with a completely depleted defensive line. Their run defense has taken a massive hit. In turn, the linebackers’ jobs become even harder. When the defensive linemen are getting blocked so easily, it’s easy for offensive linemen to get to the second level. Without his top-level speed, Bush is struggling to make plays when offensive linemen get to him so freely. Further, Pittsburgh asks a lot of their middle linebackers. It’s a lot for any player to handle, let alone a young player coming off a career-altering injury. So, while the play of Devin Bush has been frustrating, it’s not the figurative nail in his career’s coffin.
Bottom Line: It Doesn’t Matter
While there are a handful of reasons for Bush’s struggles, at the end of the day, the reasons are irrelevant. The bottom line is that Devin Bush has played bad football and his play is negatively impacting the Steelers defense. Blame him, blame the coaches, blame whoever you want. If the Steelers current trend continues, there’s a real chance they could lose every game the rest of the season. If that happened, would it really matter why they struggled? No, all that would matter is that they struggled. And Bush would be at the center of the conversation.
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The Steelers are in a rough spot with their inside linebackers. Though he has been better than Bush, off-season acquisition Joe Schobert has had his struggles. Robert Spillane suffered what could be a potentially serious knee injury. Marcus Allen and Ulysees Gilbert III have been relegated to specials teams roles. Rookie Buddy Johnson has only gotten a helmet in a handful of games. So, there really are no great options to take some of Bush’s snaps. But at this point, the Steelers coaching staff needs to try something. It simply can’t get worse.
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