Although interesting, I'm not sure your analogy applies in this instance. The cash is a sure thing and add'l draft picks are rarely "sure things." Although Bush could break a leg or severely hurt himself, he's still as sure of a thing that has come around in several drafts. Check out this article below...
Bush should be the No. 1 pick ... and No. 2
Posted: Wednesday December 21, 2005 10:59AM; Updated: Wednesday December 21, 2005 2:15PM
Although offering unsolicited advice is one of our favorite pastimes here at the Hot Button, we realize that in the area of player personnel decisions we are just guessing like everyone else. General managers, scouts and coaches are far more experienced in evaluating talent than we are and much more qualified to make draft day decisions, so in the end, we almost always defer to their judgment.
But not this time.
This time, the subject is Reggie Bush, the phenomenal tailback from USC, and we're having a hard time fathoming what we're hearing, specifically, the idea that the team that winds up with the No. 1 pick shouldn't necessarily use it on Bush. To those who are offering this notion, we would recommend extensive testing for hallucinogenic drugs, and following that, a brain scan.
Drafting Bush with the first pick is a slam-dunk, a no-brainer, the only logical move. Are we making ourselves clear? The Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets or whichever lucky team ends up with the top pick would be foolish to over-think this. Their draft-day strategy should consist of two words: Draft Bush. Draft him as soon as humanly possible. Do not let commissioner Paul Tagliabue even finish his sentence on draft day.
TAGLIABUE: Now on the clock, the Houston Tex--
TEXANS: Reggie Bush!
We would not only draft Bush with our first pick, we'd also draft him again with our second, just to be sure. Bush is that spectacular, that rare, that sure-fire, game-changing a talent. When that type of player comes along -- an Elway, a LeBron, a Jordan, a Gretzky -- any team would be foolish to let him get away. The argument is that teams like the Texans, 49ers or Jets need much more than just one player, no matter how great he may be, and it would make sense for them to trade the pick for multiple draft choices and/or players in order to fill more holes.
That would be a logical line of thinking in most years, when there are nothing more than very good players in the draft. But Bush is more than that. He is a Halley's Comet kind of player. We here at the Hot Button have been fortunate enough to see him up close on several occasions during his college career and his speed, his moves and his underrated strength will make him an NFL star from his first carry. Trust us.
Besides, as far as we know, drafting Bush in the first round does not preclude a team from actually drafting other players in subsequent rounds. Fill out that offensive line in the second and third rounds. Look for that pass-rushing defensive end in the fourth or fifth. Don't pass up Bush's quality for quantity.
There is also a school of thought that suggests that at 6-feet, 200 pounds, Bush may not be big enough to absorb the kind of pounding that an every-down running back has to face. Tiki Barber of the New York Giants faced similar doubts, and at last check he was in his ninth season and second in the league in rushing this year.
Bush might very well be that durable a back, but even if he's not, who says he needs to carry the ball off-tackle 25 times to be worth No. 1 pick status? A creative offensive coordinator would be in heaven with Bush, giving him 12-15 carries out of the backfield, throwing a few screens to him, lining him up in the slot or split out wide in other situations, much the way the St. Louis Rams' Marshall Faulk was used in his prime, when he was the most dangerous back in the league.
It's true that Bush benefited from having a dominant offensive line in front of him at USC, but he makes linemen look good just as often as the other way around. All he needs is a crack to get past the line of scrimmage, and the rest is largely his own improvisation and instincts. Rarely has an NFL star been so clearly in the making. On second thought, we'll withdraw our advice because it shouldn't be necessary. Any team that would even hesitate to grab Reggie Bush clearly doesn't deserve him.
