Jarrett Bush

[vince]

When I said, "If you throw at Jarrett Bush the worst thing that happens is an incomplete pass. Still, the ability to mirror a receiver is worth something." I meant it from the point of view of an opposing QB. In other words, he'll never intercept or even locate the ball, so there really is no downside to going right after him time after time even if he's actually in position. The downgrade from Woodson to Bush is obviously insane but as far as dimebacks go I'm pleased with him. Remember that when he's in, he's covering the slot meaning he doesn't have any sideline to help him. This is a tough spot on a roster to fill! The Packers stay in the nickel so much because we have two corners who excel on the perimeter (Williams and Shields) and Woodson who is dominant in the slot. In order to use our dime package we need another corner to play in the slot. Bush has been that corner for us. He's half as good around the LOS as Wood, and 1/50th as good when the ball is in the air, but he can at least provide a green jersey that appears to be covering someone.

Personally I'm hoping that Pat Lee finally takes that last step forward and can provide us with another capable perimeter guy so that Tramon can move into the slot and give us that much more of a play-making presence near the LOS.

OK. I misinterpreted that obviously. Thanks for the clarification. Bush is a liability on the field on D. Liabilities get exposed, and that's how teams get beat. Keep him off the field on defense and I'm happy.

[vince]

Finding corners isn't that easy. In six years, TT has found two good ones, Williams and Shields. It's not for a lack of trying (Blackmon, Lee, Underwood, Hawkins, Bell, Dendy, Walker, Porter, Ford, Gordy etc.) He has tried high draft picks, low draft picks, undrafted rookies and other teams' cast-offs.

Besides, under normal circumstances, I'm not sure that Bush isn't already the #5 or #6 corner on the team. The problem is that he will be active for every game because of STs, and one of the 4th or 5th corner might very well be inactive. When injuries hit during a game, the 6th corner ends up playing while the 4th or 5th corner stands on the sidelines in street clothes. If the Packers had a week of practice to prepare back ups to play in the top 3 corner positions, I suspect both Lee and Underwood may have gotten the nod ahead of Bush this year, if they were healthy.

Good points Patler. Bush wouldn't be tough to replace as a DB, but unfortunately it's not that simple as you indicate. If the roster sizes increase, maybe we can all be happy with Bush because he won't have to play defense.

[SMBASS]

I think Patler, Vince, Joe, and some of you guys have hit the nail right on the head regarding Bush. Nobody is calling him the second coming or "annointing" him as anything. The reason I wanted to throw a few kudo's Jarrett's direction is because of the way he responded after being thrust into an incredibly tough situation during the biggest game of the year. I've seen many other reserve DB's who are supposedly a hell of a lot better than Jarrett get completely torched when thrown into regular season games that weren't nearly as pressure packed as this one. He didn't flinch, he didn't back down, and he fought through some mistakes to put himself into position to make some positive plays and contribute to the Super Bowl victory! What in the heck more can you ask for from you're 4th, 5th, or 6th DB?? As Patler said, "To expect anything more is completely unreasonable."

Losing Shields and the veteran leadership and playmaking ability of Woodson made the situation even more difficult. All of a sudden it was Lee and Bush on the field at the same time instead of Shields and Woodson and the difference is huge. It's almost impossible to "hide" or cover for one lesser DB on the field let alone two at the same time. The situation also forced Dom to make adjustments and change the original gameplan. He had to alter the blitz packages and he also resorted to playing zone for the majority of the 2nd half. I don't know if it was Whitt or Collins or whoever, but someone was doing an excellent job of communicating and making sure the guys were where they were supposed to be the majority of the time. There was some confusion at first but they eventually got it together enough to get the job accomplished and that's all that counts.

If a month ago I would have told anyone that the game would come down to Pitt. having the ball with 2 minutes to go and we were only ahead by 6 with Bush and Lee on the field instead of Shields and Woodson we would have all thought that we were screwed....myself included. To be honest, I was actually surprised that we were ahead in the first place given that Bush and Lee had already been on the field for the majority of the 2nd half. Would you rather have had Underwood out there instead of Bush???

Jarrett has endured a ton of shit from the fans and media over the past few years and it was capped off when that asshole Bedard asked him about being "The most hated player on the team". He's a great kid with an excellent attitude and he's continued to work his ass off and get better. I agree with Joe that the biggest difference I've seen in Bush this year is that he really raised the level of consistency in his game. His ratio of good plays to bone-headed or average plays increased dramatically and he continued to play better and better as the year went on. He also significantly decreased his number of penalties this year. I also agree with Joe that he doesn't have the ball skills to ever be trusted as your 2nd or 3rd CB but tell me one team who has a 5th or 6th CB who can!

I'm just saying let's give the kid some props for not wilting under the pressure and for probably playing about as well as he's capable of under some extremely difficult circumstances. It was the frickin Super Bowl for goodness sakes and he played well enough to get the job done! I simply don't understand the blind hatred that some people have for Bush. I also don't get why it's so hard for some people to let his past mistakes go and show him a little love when he's obviously earned it!

[gbgary]

Or, as Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon."

or even worse, "what an ultra maroon."