Steelers Devin Bush slotted ahead of Devin White in PFF’s 2021 LB rankings

Devin Bush missed most of the 2020 season, but here’s why Pro Football Focus has the Steelers linebacker ranked so high entering 2021.

Steelers fans were hoping to see much more of Devin Bush at this point in his career. Through his first two seasons, Bush has combined to play just 21 of a possible 33 games (including the playoffs), and his inability to stay on the football field has led some to question whether or not he has been worth the 10th overall selection.

Injuries are part of the game, and nobody could have predicted that Bush would have suffered an ACL tear just 5 games into his second season. At the age of 22, we still expect the young linebacker to impress moving forward. However, a prominent football website has Devin Bush ranked higher than perhaps anyone.

Recently, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus ranked his top 32 NFL linebackers entering the 2021 NFL season. To the surprise of many, Monson had Bush as his 17th-best linebacker. Here’s what he had to say about his ranking:

"17. DEVIN BUSH, PITTSBURGH STEELERSWe have yet to see everything Devin Bush is capable of at the NFL level. His rookie season for the Steelers was solid but not spectacular, and then injury robbed us of seeing his sophomore improvement after just a few games. Bush has flashed impact playmaking ability, but he needs to show clear improvement in consistency in Year 3."

Considering that Bush has less than a year-and-a-half of NFL experience and missed most of his 2020 season, this ranking seems quite high – even for optimistic Steelers fans. In addition, his description of Bush didn’t really seem overly positive. However, if we are weighing the upside (and I’m sure Monson is), there is plenty of reasons to believe he could meet these expectations in year three.

Steelers linebacker ranked ahead of ascending Devin White

Bush will turn 23 years old in July this year, and if he stays healthy, he has the traits to prove that he could become a top linebacker in the league. Bush tested as a remarkable athlete coming out of Michigan at the age of 20 – running a 4.43-second 40-yard dash and recording a vertical jump of 40.5”. However, I find it extremely interesting that Bush is ranked higher than Tampa Bay Buccaneers ascending linebacker, Devin White.

White and Bush will likely draw comparisons throughout their NFL careers, as both linebackers were taken inside the top 10 picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s rare to see two off-the-ball linebackers drafted so high in the same year. Though both players had somewhat rocky starts to their NFL careers as they dealt with consistency issues, White was phenomenal late in the 2020 season and into the playoffs. He certainly looks like he has the potential to be the best linebacker in the business.

While Bush has very similar athletic upside, much of how he will perform is just a projection at this point. Even if he stays healthy for every game in 2021, he still has work to do on the field – especially when it comes to his ability to recognize and diagnose zone coverage.

Having said this, I am not down on Bush by any means. I had him graded out as my 7th-best player entering the 2019 NFL Draft, and I still think he has loads of upside as a do-it-linebacker with his ability to blitz, cover, and sniff out the run. Throughout his first 21 games, he has flashed remarkable play-making ability and showed incredibly closing speed from sideline to sideline.

Overall, ranking Devin Bush as the 17th-best linebacker in the NFL entering the 2021 season seems a bit high to me – especially considering that this has him ranked ahead of players like Devin White, Cory Littleton, and Tremaine Edmunds. The Steelers linebacker still has plenty to prove, but he has the upside to be one of the best at his position.