3 reasons Steelers LB Devin Bush should greatly improve in 2022
By Tommy Jaggi
Devin Bush has been given the ‘bust’ label early in his NFL career, but here’s why the Steelers linebacker should take a big leap forward in 2022.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, they thought they were getting a can’t-miss linebacker in Devin Bush. The former Michigan linebacker was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year at the age of 20, and he tested off the charts at the NFL Combine.
Sadly, Bush hasn’t come remotely close to filling the shoes of Ryan Shazier as Pittsburgh’s ‘Mack’ linebacker, and his play has been so poor that he has the potential to be done with Steelers after the 2022 season.
Still, there is plenty of reason for optimism that Devin Bush could finally become the player fans were hoping he would be when Pittsburgh drafted him. Here are three reasons why Bush could greatly improve in 2022:
One more year removed from ACL surgery
As someone who has suffered a torn ACL and gone through an excruciating rehab process myself, it’s not easy to get right back on your feet. I can only imagine how much harder it would be to do so just months after surgery when Bush joined his team on the practice field for Steelers training camp.
Perhaps more than any position in the league, off-ball linebackers depend on their lateral movement skills to flow effortlessly to the ball at a moment’s notice. Watching Bush’s tentative play style last season compared to what we saw pre-injury, it was clear to see that he wasn’t nearly as aggressive and perhaps he didn’t fully trust his knee yet.
With another full offseason of strength and conditioning, Bush should be 100 percent healthy heading into Pittsburgh’s 2022 training camp. I’m willing to bet that he looks a step faster this year and I think his physical mentality will return as a result.