Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Devin Bush won't be the biggest linebacker to ever set foot on an NFL field. But, then again, he's used to that.
At 5-foot-11 and 234 pounds, Bush is a bit undersized compared to some of his compatriots across the league, but he enters the NFL after an ultra-productive career at Michigan in which his size was never a factor. Bush had 161 tackles with 18.5 for loss with 10 sacks, 11 passes defended and an interception during his final two seasons.
Bush believes he can translate that production into the pros.
“I’m a grown man as much as anyone else in this locker room. I’m here to play football. Nothing changes,” Bush said, via Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
While Bush may have been too small to play the position a decade ago, he may be the perfect size to handle the modern NFL game. With the proliferation of spread offenses and pass-heavy attacks, Bush’s speed and athleticism is an ideal fit to counter modern NFL offensive trends.
The Steelers have been looking for such players — athletic, sideline-to-sideline, pass-defending, three-down, speed-oriented inside linebackers — for a while now.
They just haven't kept them healthy.
First, it was Sean Spence in 2012, but he was lost to knee injury in his rookie preseason that effectively ended his career. Then it was Ryan Shazier’s spinal injury, derailing the career of a budding star after he emerged as a Pro Bowler.
Now it’s Bush’s turn to attempt to bring the group into the modern age.
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