Well count former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Merril Hoge as a critic of linebacker Devin Bush. Today in an interview on 93.7 The Fan Pittsburgh, Hoge was a guest and had some harsh words to say about Bush.
JSKO_PHOTO (Twitter)
If you remember Hoge had some critical words to say about Bush in December after Bush had one of his many games to forget in 2021. With Bush coming off of an ACL injury in 2020 he struggled to regain his rookie form. Hoge didn't hold any punches today while speaking on Bush to Andrew Filipponi.
"I just think you gotta cut bait there. He is who he is. He doesn't play with great instincts," Hoge continued to tell 93.7 The Fan. "I don't care if he's a first rounder. I don't care if he's fast. He's not a very good football player. He doesn't play smart. He doesn't play fast. He doesn't even play with great leverage and technique when he does and he hurts you. There's nothing he does that helps you. People target him in the passing game. They wear him out. He's never gotten any better there and he's not gonna get any better there. So I just think you have to cut bait."You can't win with that number 1. So to do that actually you're telling the team that you don't care about the team. Thats the bad part, and I don't believe that Tomlin is like that. I don't believe that the Rooney's are like that. You can't afford to play with players like that and win. You're not going to win with players like that.
I don't believe that under any circumstance should the Steelers release Bush. They rightfully declined to pick up Bush's 5th year option and he will play out the final year of his contract this season. If you looked at Bush's rookie stats you'd think he was on his way to having a solid season. He had 109 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, and a touchdown. But in 2021 he lacked explosiveness, and played timid. This offseason Bush admitted that he wasn't confident in his surgically repaired knee, but he said that he believes he's regained his confidence.
“I’m feeling confident, I’m getting back into the groove of things, as in going out there and knowing expectations and getting a chance to go out there with a whole new mindset and just play football again, honestly.”
On if his knee ever felt comfortable last season, Bush said:
“Not the beginning of the season, I would say more so, towards the second part of it [is] when I started really getting comfortable. Now, I don’t think my knee’s an issue.”
The 93.7 team asked Hoge his thoughts on newly acquired Myles Jack who will line up next to Bush.
"Myles Jack when he came out I really liked Myles Jack. He was a terrific football player. I haven't went back and looked at him last year in great detail so I can't speak to you know. I know he had an injury I believe. I can just tell you this I know when he came out I think he was at UCLA. And you know I really liked him. I do believe he is an upgrade."
Hoge's final comments on the situation seem to be the most interesting. He believes that reserve linebacker Robert Spillane is the best inside linebacker on the Steelers roster.
"[Robert] Spillane is really their best inside linebacker period. End of story. You just watch him play inside. He's athletic, he's smart, he's where he's supposed to be, he takes on people, he makes tackles. He's not a liability in the passing game, you can't expose him in the passing game. These are all things he's better than Bush and doesn't jeopardize the team."
Despite Hoge's comments about Spillane he has a very big weakness against the pass. The worst part about that is that the Steelers replaced Bush on passing situations for Spillane last season. And Bush was brought in because his coverage ability was supposed to cure Pittsburgh's issue covering tight ends.
