Devin Bush Is In the Perfect Place At the Perfect Time
Credit: Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Cleveland Browns’ 2024 off-season transaction list is a land of contrasts. Trading for Jerry Jeudy? Great. Signing Jerry Jeudy? Meh. Extending Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah? Awesome. Losing Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker, two of the three best linebackers on the team? Less than ideal. The latter sequence of events has left the Browns’ LB room fairly top-heavy.
In order to avoid lackluster depth at the position, the Browns added former No. 10 overall pick Devin Bush. Entering his sixth season, Bush has not lived up to the expectations put upon him leading up to the 2019 Draft. However, a change of scenery and getting to play for one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators may help revive his career.
To understand why Bush can succeed in Cleveland, we first have to understand why he hasn’t so far elsewhere. Bush’s rookie season for the Pittsburgh Steelers was more impressive than you may remember. He just collected stats, totaling 109 tackles, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions, a sack, and even scored a touchdown. He looked promising to start his next season, but tearing his ACL early in his sophomore year halted his momentum.
This injury ended up taking a toll on the former Steeler, as his production dwindled after he came back. Once his rookie contract expired in Pittsburgh, Bush signed with the Seattle Seahawks, where he had his worst season in the NFL. It wasn’t just the torn knee working against Bush, he found himself stuck in a terrible defensive scheme and awful supporting cast, which fed into his rough 2023 campaign.
Coming to Cleveland is every bit as important to Bush’s career as his arrival is to the Browns’ linebacker room. Pairing up with a rising star like JOK gives Bush an incredible opportunity to support a top defense. While Walker and Takitaki leaving is still a blow to Cleveland, it opens the door for a talented reclamation project. That’s a spot where the former Seahawks’ career can be revived.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has a plan for Bush, as he does with every single defensive player on the squad. Reading the tea leaves, it is obvious that Schwartz wants Bush to be a key starter on the defense. Throughout offseason practices and preseason games, Schwartz has put Bush in positions to succeed and seize that starting role. We’re seeing both Bush and Schwartz cash in on those with some great performances in the early goings.
In two pre-season games, Bush has racked up 11 tackles despite partaking in limited snaps. The stats are nice, but Bush is also improving with his positioning and technique, which is paying off in his tackling and overall run-stopping ability.
One of the issues with Devin Bush the past few years has been his run fits and gap integrity
If anyone can fix that its DC Jim Schwartz#Browns #Dawgpound
pic.twitter.com/vttXJror1l— Mac🦬 (@tha_buffalo) August 13, 2024
Obviously, the fairy tale ending is that Schwartz is able to unlock the potential Bush showed as a 100-tackle, turnover-creating rookie. But the beauty of his situation in Cleveland is that Bush doesn’t necessarily need to overperform to be a great fit with the Browns. They have playmakers all over the defense, and he has one alongside him in JOK.
With Myles Garrett in front of him and that incredible secondary behind him, Bush just needs to avoid being a weak link to excel. If all he is in this defense is an efficient tackler who can plug up the line of scrimmage, the Dawg Pound should take that any day.
Those tackling numbers don’t even have to be gaudy, either. Both Walker and Takitaki had low-production seasons last season, with 44 and 66 tackles, respectively. The Browns’ defense wasn’t any worse for it. With the supporting cast Bush has in Cleveland, solid is perfect.
The beauty of this move, though, is that while Bush only needs to be steady to be successful, there’s potential for upside. The former Michigan star led his defense when he was in college, and his skills and instincts are still there. He’s still only 26, so while the knee injury took something out of him, he’s still young and athletic. Now that he is playing in a brilliant defensive scheme, there’s a non-zero chance that we’ll get to see the old Devin Bush. That would make one of the most dominant defenses the NFL has ever seen somehow even more terrifying.
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