-By Carlos Ortega
Friends of Steelers 360 last Sunday our defense received a very strong blow when the ILB was injured Devin Bush, who is undoubtedly called to be one of the leaders and bastion at the center of this unit in the not too distant future.
During the 2Q the play occurred in which he ended up hurting his left knee a lot, many of us feared the worst. See him go out on his own foot although supported by 2 staff members and after they put him status as “Questionable” It made us think that maybe it hadn’t been so bad But the status change to “Outside” and the subsequent report of Adam Scheffter ESPN confirmed what we first imagined: an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in the left knee.
In essence, a ligament tear is a Grade II sprain. For mortals like you or me, with 2-3 weeks of a cast, rest and analgesics and anti-inflammatories, plus a couple of weeks of home rehabilitation exercises are enough for us to resume our activities normally. But for a high-performance athlete in a high-intensity, high-speed contact sport, it means that in order to look good he may very well require surgery to repair the damaged ligament.
This is not a law. However today at his press conference, Mike Tomlin reported that the Michigan graduate will be operated on in the next few days. That is, we are talking about at least 4-6 months so that you can return to have contact. Sadly his season is over.
LIFE WITHOUT DEVIN
Now the staff and management will have to make decisions. Finding the solution at home or looking for it outside the home.
You have to be clear from the beginning. No matter where you look, we will NOT find someone like Devin Bush. In any case the staff will have to adapt things to try to minimize the loss of # 55, but it is impossible to replace him.
OPTIONS AT HOME
Obviously the immediate solution was “next man up”. And in this case his first and last name are Robert Spillane.
But that was immediate, the man who was Bush’s natural understudy. However, his quality is very far from that of Bush, although it must be said that he did very well at the time. But here the important thing is, can you repeat the very good performances week after week?
I think that depending on the rival and the circumstances they can organize a rotation that includes Spilane himself, but also Ulysees Gilbert III (especially now that they are going to face the monstrous Derrick Henry), Marcus Allen and even Sean Davis.
These 4 elements have different characteristics that could be exploited as a pair of Vince Williams, but also to act as MLB in sub-package Dime or even sub-package 3-3. We know that Allen or even Davis and to a lesser degree Spillane can even upgrade in coverage situations in relation to what Bush offered. The problem is whether Spillane and Gilbert III can provide the team with that speed to go side to side to seal the gaps against the race.
But for now you have to be very clear about it: the first option is called Robert Spillane and it will depend on their performance if they keep it or start rotating.
OPTIONS AWAY FROM HOME
They really boil down to two situations and I honestly see them as unlikely:
The first is to search among the players who are free, and the truth is that I only saw one name that seemed interesting to me: the ex-Cardinal taken in 1st rd, Deone Bucannon (28 years old). Obviously at this time the players who are free in full competition are not the best. No one hired them for a reason. But this guy must have something to have been taken with pick # 27.
The other is to explore a possible trade with another team, or a possible PS “theft” (except that the player who has been “stolen” will have to be on the active roster). Honestly, with the limitations that exist due to the salary cap, I see it difficult for this to happen.
CONCLUSION
Life without Devin this season won’t be easy, but the boy is going to come back stronger for the next season. This was a stretch of bad luck.
Personally, I like the options we have at home more to correct the loss of # 55. It seems to me that everyone we have right now, without having Devin quality, is worth the opportunity. And this has already been confirmed by Mike Tomlin today, giving a boost to # 41 to take the baton.
I think the first option should be to look inward, and if that doesn’t work, then look elsewhere.
