My first thought after hearing the New Orleans Saints had drafted running back Mark Ingram was “so much for Reggie Bush.” Apparently he was thinking the exact same thing. Not long after the selection, he sent off this blast on twitter:
And just like that, a new catch phrase was born. Bush was set to make nearly $12 million in the upcoming season so the team was going to ask him to take a paycut anyhow, but now with such a crowded backfield (the Saints also have Pierre Thomas), it just makes it more clear that New Orleans is moving on.
To say Bush was a bust with New Orleans is like saying JaMarcus Russell is chubby. The Heisman Trophy winner* was supposed to be the next superstar when he entered the league. The Houston Texans were ridiculed for passing up the seemingly superhuman Bush in the draft, but they turned out to be right.
Bush has had trouble avoiding injuries and that has cost him playing time. Out of a possible 80 regular season games, Bush only played in 60. He scored 33 touchdowns for the Saints and averaged just over 70 combined yards per game, but he was far from the elite superstar he was expected to become.
In an odd twist of reality, the Saints would have been much better off taking the diminutive all-purpose back from UCLA who ended up going in the second round to the Jaguars. Maurice Jones-Drew has been everything Bush was expected to be. Bush is talented and he can still play, but his inability to stay on the field saps his value.
