Steelers Room: LB Devin Bush impresses in preseason debut

Play 3: Big play in a big moment

I know I sound like a broken record here, but this is another play where Bush’s speed, acceleration, and football IQ are at the forefront. In this play, Bush and Ola Adeniyi both get in the backfield and stop  Tampa Bay running back Andre Ellington for no gain on 4th-and-1.

Like we talked about in the previous play, Bush’s pre-snap awareness and IQ is displayed here. On the previous play, the defense was expecting a pass given the situation, so Bush anticipated pass and blitzed properly.

In this play, the obvious situation is for Tampa Bay to gain one yard to convert the first down. Once the ball is snapped, Bush slightly hesitates allowing the gaps to open up, and then shoots the A gap on the weak side of the center.

By the time Ellington receives the hand off, Bush is already in the A gap and Ellington is forced to run further outside behind his guard and tackle on the strong side. Thanks to Ola Adeniyi, he contains the outside edge, closing off anywhere for Ellington to go, and Bush and Adeniyi combine to make the stop for the Steelers.

Bush’s quickness up the middle forced the running back to run inefficiently in a short-yardage situation. His speed also allowed him to converge on the running back and help make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage.

There were many more plays that Bush showed just what he’s capable of and why Steelers coaches and fans should be excited for this kid. I wanted to take a closer look at these three plays because they all displayed different qualities of Bush that match the hype around the former Michigan Wolverine.