Devin Bush has been a lightning rod for criticism for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, and that comes with the territory when you are a top-10 draft pick. After all, he’s not only the highest-drafted player for the team since Plaxico Burress in the Bill Cowher years, he’s also the first player they traded up for in the first round since Santonio Holmes, also in the Cowher years.
The Michigan product is a player that this scouting department and coaching staff very specifically coveted and targeted and made sure to get, just two years ago. And he’s playing like a sixth-round pick. No, scratch that. The Steelers got great play out of a former sixth-round pick at that position, Vince Williams. Bush is just playing like crap. But Williams, who was his teammate up until August, had something to say about the knocks on Bush just a short time ago on Twitter.
Williams started 69 out of 121 games before retiring in August. He played with Bush for about a season and a half before the latter tore his ACL last year. And yet he was ready to go to start the season.
Devin is coming off of a major injury, his coach’s wife died, and he’s missing 2 of his starting linemen. Ppl called Bud a bust and then begged him to take “a hometown discount to stay”. Btw, Devin Bush is 23 years old. If he plays till he’s 30 that’s 7 years to turn his career. Devin’s game has always centered around explosion and power. It takes an athlete 8-12 months just to get back from an ACL. It’s going to take at least double that to get back the high level of cutting and exploding that’s needed to look like a top 10 pick. This isn’t even considering the physiological issues he must overcome, nor does it take into account all the lost reps and experience he’s missed out on while nursing his injury. His effort could and should be better. BUT how can you ask him to lead the defense coming off that injury at 23…. while his confidence is in shambles???? This is obviously bigger than Devin and the media is using him as a scapegoat. It’s easy to pick on an underperforming top pick. Let’s not bury someone prematurely because it’s convenient. God bless you all, and thank you for your time.
Devin is coming off of a major injury, his coach’s wife died, and he’s missing 2 of his starting linemen. Ppl called Bud a bust and then begged him to take “a home town discount to stay”. Btw, Devin Bush is 23 years old. If he plays till he’s 30 that’s 7 years to turn his career
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
Devin’s game has always centered around explosion and power. It takes an athlete 8-12 months just to get back from an ACL. It’s going to take at least double that to get back the high level of cutting and exploding that’s needed to look like a top 10 pick.
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
This isn’t even considering the physiological issues he must overcome, nor does it take into account all the lost reps and experience he’s missed out on while nursing his injury.
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
His effort could and should be better. BUT how can you ask him to lead the defense coming off that injury at 23…. while his confidence is in shambles????
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
This is obviously bigger than Devin and the media is using him as a scapegoat. It’s easy to pick on an underperforming top pick. Let’s not burry someone pre maturely because it’s convenient.
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
God bless you all, and thank you for your time. 🙏🏾
— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 30, 2021
These are the first comments Williams has made on Twitter in nearly a month. He hasn’t been all that active at all since his retirement. That he chose to speak up on this subject at this time, then, should be taken as significant.
Of course, he’s defending his former teammate and no doubt his friend. He does admit that Bush has to give better effort. But he’s also right about the road to recovery. It is reasonable to believe that he’s not physically, nor mentally, at his fullest capabilities right now, and the former does impact the latter.
