Bush-Whacked!

From what I hear, the Madden player rankings are out and Reggie Bush edged out Mario Williams again. The former NC State star can't catch a break!

I don't know that I've ever seen Mario Williams play, so I'm not going to sing his praises. But, he must be talented if the Texans took him #1 overall. And, I don't have a problem with criticism of Williams or praise of Bush. However, evaluate them on a level playing field.

Offensive and defensive players can contribute without putting up big numbers. Elite cornerbacks usually don't have a lot of interceptions because they don't get challenged as much as CB's who are thought less of by opposing offenses. If a defensive end gets doubled and triple teamed all game and doesn't get a sack, but the guy on the other side who sees one-on-one blocking the entire game gets three sacks, who had the better game? If the defense pays so much attention to Randy Moss that the other receiver and running back are able to have big games, are you going to criticize Moss if he only catches a few balls?

Reggie Bush was still receiving tons of praise for his 4 carries for 7 yards and 2 receptions for 14 yards performance against the Cowboys Monday night. Those aren't good numbers. Bush's 9 yard run (his other three were for -2 yards) was okay, but not worthy of heaps of praise. He made one solid cut and then stumbled forward for a few more yards. Plus, Bush was credited with being a decoy (CB Newman bit on a play-action fake) on a nice completion from Drew Brees to Joe Horn. Would the same thing have happened on a fake to Deuce McAllister? It's definitely possible, Deuce is a pretty good back.

Give Williams a break ... it's the pre-season and he doesn't have the talent around him that Bush does (Brees, Deuce, Horn). He may struggle this year, he may play well and struggle to accumulate stats, or he may light up the stat sheet. I'm pretty sure I know what ESPN will say about Bush, though.