Reggie Bush is an unsigned free agent, but he says he intends to keep playing. He’s 31 and coming off a torn ACL, but he says he’s as fast as he’s ever been. “I don’t feel like I lost a step,” he says. “I don’t feel slow, and I feel like I could still go out there and be effective.”
Bush made his comments as part of an interview with Sirius XM NFL radio.
Bush says he’s taking his time picking a new team because he wants to make sure the fit is right. More realistically, if there was any team out there that had much confidence Bush should still be an effective running back, he would have been signed a long time ago.
Bush had 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the Dolphins and Lions, but he hasn’t been much of a factor the last two years, averaging only 3.9 and 3.5 yards per carry. He played in only five games last year for San Francisco before tearing his ACL while slipping on concrete in St. Louis.
If any team is going to make a move on Bush, it’s more likely for him to serve as a third-down back and change-of-pace option. But even on that front, he’s never been quite as dynamic as everyone expected when he was selected with the second pick of the draft 10 years ago.
In five of the last nine years, Bush has averaged under 7 yards per catch. Over the past three years, he’s caught only 67 percent of the passes thrown his way, 3rd-lowest among the 41 running backs with at least 80 targets.
Since 2013, Bush has averaged only 5.3 yards per pass play. That’s a bottom-10 number among those 41 backs with at least 80 targets. The top 10 includes Joique Bell (who spent two years in the same offense as Bush) and five of those third-down type backs who have simply been far more effective – Charles Sims, Danny Woodhead, Giovani Bernard, Theo Riddick and Benny Cunningham.
Bush has no fantasy value in my opinion.
| RUNNING BACK RECEIVING (2013-15) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Rec | Yards | Target | Pct | Avg |
| 1. | DeAngelo Williams | 71 | 744 | 89 | 79.8% | 8.4 |
| 2. | Joique Bell | 109 | 1155 | 148 | 73.6% | 7.8 |
| 3. | Charles Sims | 70 | 751 | 97 | 72.2% | 7.7 |
| 4. | LeVeon Bell | 152 | 1389 | 197 | 77.2% | 7.1 |
| 5. | Danny Woodhead | 161 | 1394 | 199 | 80.9% | 7.0 |
| 6. | Eddie Lacy | 97 | 872 | 127 | 76.4% | 6.9 |
| 7. | Giovani Bernard | 148 | 1335 | 196 | 75.5% | 6.8 |
| 8. | Marshawn Lynch | 86 | 763 | 113 | 76.1% | 6.8 |
| 9. | Theo Riddick | 118 | 1039 | 157 | 75.2% | 6.6 |
| 10. | Benny Cunningham | 77 | 661 | 100 | 77.0% | 6.6 |
| 11. | James Starks | 71 | 621 | 95 | 74.7% | 6.5 |
| 12. | LeSean McCoy | 112 | 986 | 151 | 74.2% | 6.5 |
| 13. | Pierre Thomas | 131 | 975 | 150 | 87.3% | 6.5 |
| 14. | Rashad Jennings | 95 | 814 | 128 | 74.2% | 6.4 |
| 15. | Matt Forte | 220 | 1791 | 282 | 78.0% | 6.4 |
| 16. | C.J. Anderson | 59 | 507 | 80 | 73.8% | 6.3 |
| 17. | Trent Richardson | 62 | 545 | 86 | 72.1% | 6.3 |
| 18. | Andre Ellington | 100 | 914 | 146 | 68.5% | 6.3 |
| 19. | Kyle Juszczyk | 60 | 503 | 83 | 72.3% | 6.1 |
| 20. | Jamaal Charles | 131 | 1161 | 192 | 68.2% | 6.0 |
| 21. | Arian Foster | 82 | 737 | 122 | 67.2% | 6.0 |
| 22. | Shane Vereen | 158 | 1369 | 227 | 69.6% | 6.0 |
| 23. | Devonta Freeman | 103 | 803 | 135 | 76.3% | 5.9 |
| 24. | DeMarco Murray | 154 | 1088 | 185 | 83.2% | 5.9 |
| 25. | Darren Sproles | 166 | 1379 | 235 | 70.6% | 5.9 |
| 26. | Lamar Miller | 111 | 842 | 144 | 77.1% | 5.8 |
| 27. | Fred Jackson | 145 | 1145 | 197 | 73.6% | 5.8 |
| 28. | Mark Ingram | 86 | 618 | 107 | 80.4% | 5.8 |
| 29. | Marcel Reece | 99 | 865 | 150 | 66.0% | 5.8 |
| 30. | Donald Brown | 64 | 513 | 89 | 71.9% | 5.8 |
| 31. | Chris Johnson | 72 | 554 | 99 | 72.7% | 5.6 |
| 32. | Bilal Powell | 94 | 752 | 136 | 69.1% | 5.5 |
| 33. | Reggie Bush | 98 | 778 | 146 | 67.1% | 5.3 |
| 34. | C.J. Spiller | 86 | 549 | 106 | 81.1% | 5.2 |
| 35. | Frank Gore | 61 | 519 | 103 | 59.2% | 5.0 |
| 36. | Jacquizz Rodgers | 82 | 524 | 105 | 78.1% | 5.0 |
| 37. | Matt Asiata | 68 | 457 | 93 | 73.1% | 4.9 |
| 38. | Darren McFadden | 93 | 648 | 133 | 69.9% | 4.9 |
| 39. | Doug Martin | 58 | 401 | 88 | 65.9% | 4.6 |
| 40. | Ronnie Hillman | 57 | 369 | 83 | 68.7% | 4.4 |
| 41. | Justin Forsett | 90 | 498 | 116 | 77.6% | 4.3 |
—Ian Allan
