Leon had better averages with a worse OL and a far worse offense in general than Bush in an offense based off of short-yardage passes and a strong ground attack (this team can't do these things well at the moment). Bush has better moves but he does not have the vision that Leon has, and that is what is the major difference. Both are scatbacks and you'd better believe that if Leon Washington had Deuce McAllister next to him he would have done so much better than sharing carries with . . . Kevan Barlow? Houston? Blaylock? Leon Washington is simply a better RB and I can say that without a doubt in my mind. He does need to work a lot with returning, which is something that Reggie Bush is simply amazing at (I didn't see NO's ST as giving him much in the way of blocking on punt returns). Both had fumblitis at the beginning of the season. Only one of these two backs had it at the end. As long as Thomas Jones plays at a good level, we'll have one of the best RB tandems in the NFL next season. As far as a rushing attack goes, we need help on the OL and more of a threatening passing game for that to happen: Then again, we run the ball pretty darn often so everything should pan out next season, offensively.
When did Bush become a one-man band in NO? He's part of a double-headed monster with McAllister, just like Washington will be with Jones. While the talent level of Bush > Washington, I don't think it's a big enough gap to justify giving up two cornerstones of our OL.
wow looks like im in the minority here, but im kinda pissed they didnt make that deal. Reggie is a ridiclous talent. you guys talk about who was he going to run behind? - well no one is running behind the Brick as it is, he's shown not to be very effective in running block (hopefully its a rookie thing?) and Schlegal was a crappy pick anyway. Mangold is tough to lose, but I'll take my chances with the next great playmaking RB. Should have pulled the plug.
Yea, too bad they didnt do the trade. I mean if we Got Bush all our problems would have been solved except: 1. Chad's career would be over having 5 turnstiles try to protect him. 2. Bush would have averaged about a yard a carry and prob would have gotten injured as well. Now, off the sarcasm, games are won in the trenches, not in the backfields. A solid starting left tackle and a near pro bowler rookie center are very hard to find. Good Running backs are all over the place. Heck, we got one in the 4th round in Leon.
And I suppose you could have added, if Bush was so good why wasn't NO in the SB. They already had a great QB. He should have made the difference.
I'm not going to disagree with points one and two. Yeah Chad probably would have gotten hurt and Bush probably would have not had the best season last year, however last year is not really the main point. Pennington is a stopgap anyway. He's not the future anymore and wasn't last offseason either. He's my QB and I respect him, but he's not what you build a franchise around anyway. Bush however IS what your build a franchise around. Even if he had the worst o-line in the history of the game, he still would be a threat because he's dangerous with the ball. you said "good running backs are all over the place. Heck we got one with Leon." Leon is decent depth, a suprize for a 4th rounder. But Reggie Bush is a once in a lifetime playmaker. No comparison. Look at how the Jets built back up from the ground after Kotite, around a superstar running back. They morgaged the future by trading for Martin and picked up strong offensive lineman in later rounds - Fabini and through free agency- Mawae. All and all, I like last years draft, one of our best perhaps, however the future would be better had we landed Bush in my opinion. We still have a long ways to go.
One more vote for the FO...they made the right choice...Leon provides the same role Bush does at a fraction of the cost...AND...we improved our line by leaps and bounds...AND...every player in the NFL is one bad hit on the knee away from the end of his career...AND...we still don't know if McNeil's back will hold up over the long haul...so yeah, we made the right choice.
so basically. u guys are telling me if had a choice between leon and reggie you would take leon? like i said i agree with the move of staying put. but you guys are fooling yourself thinking leon is just as good as bush.
I really have to disagree with your assertion that Bush is the type of player you build your franchise around. You build a Super Bowl caliber franchise from the O and D lines out. Teams with good Offensive lines first and defensive lines second win championships. Strength in these two areas can make up for mediocrity at RB, QB, and even WR.
That isn't what they said. They said if they had their choice between Ferguson, Mangold and Leon vs. Reggie they would take those 3 in a second. That's what it would have cost. They would have never had the luxury to draft Leon after giving up three picks for Bush.
LOL. Bush would have flopped tremendously here and the FO would be getting killed. He hardly lit it up in NO who had a better O-line than us even with Ferguson and Mangold. Imagine Bush here without those 2? Proably the worst situation in the top 5 he could have walked into, and that includes the Texans.
And I can't see Bush ever being a feature back. He needs a McAllister type in front of him to take the punishment. So who would he have been behind here, Barlow? He may have never gotten on the field except during punt returns. We would have been 3 and out in every series we ran.
Exactly. Bush is going to be the guy who is always a threat on the field, but at a combination of WR and RB. He's not a true 1-man workhorse, he needs a complimentary back to work as a runner. That being said, he's still an incredible talent. He's just not going to ever be the only man being able to get stuff done, like Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Curtis, and others in this league. I look at him as being the potential Jose Reyes of football; very exciting, the sparkplug of the team, but nothing if his teammates aren't there to pick up a good amount of the slack as well.
Chad wouldn't of made it thru last year...And Bush would of been criticized SO BAD that he could of failed in NY considering the OLine was so bad... New Orleans had a solid OLine and a very good combo with Deuce...Bush wouldn't of done jack in NY, it would of taken so much more help to get him to be the player he is in Nawlins.
While Bush is a talent, and I remember I was Bush-crazed as anybody going into last year's draft. In hindsight, I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the picks we obtained in last year's draft. Our FO did the smart thing instead of the sexy thing. While the FO did not score a coup on every pick, they did pretty darned good. Bottom line is we needed an offensive line. We were at ground zero O-Line-wise at the end of the 2005 season. Rome isn't built in a day and neither is an offensive line. Last year we got 2 decent rookies who played a whole season without injury. They will get better and hopefully we can add to them this year at the guard spot. Much of what our FO did in last year's draft was one of the keys to resurrecting Chad's career. Trust me, he had one leg out the door because of serious injury. While Chad is not a Bret Faavre bullet arm, he is very cerebral, and somehow seems to get the job done. We found a very flashy running back in Leon last year. While he realistically is not a full-time RB he can be extremely effective. Thomas Jones sets us up beautifully for next year. He is a workhorse who will be very well complimented by Washington. I like what has been done with this team in one year. Damn, we even made the playoffs in 2006 when we clearly were not picked to do so. If anyone thinks Herm could have done better, please step forward.
First of all, Schlegel doesn't really count. So it's really Bush or Mangold/D'Brick. If you had asked me last year, I would've wanted Bush. Just too much of a talent. Considering we had such a whole at the RB position, it made too much sense. However, I think the simple fact that we made the playoffs last year justifies everything. Who knows what we would have done with Bush and no O-line, but if we had Bush, Miller wouldn't return kicks, which turned out pretty well, and it's possible with no O-line, we would have had no running game, and gone 7-9 or something.
