Yes, I dared to point it out when Jarrett Bush had a solid game. Yes, Bush responded to my kindness by having an unbelievably bad game against the Steelers. However, this wasn’t all that surprising if you actually read what I wrote:

Yes, he’s a disaster in man coverage. For whatever reason, he just has a terrible time locating the ball in the air. He is vary rarely flat out beat. He is almost always right on top of whoever it is he is covering in man. But he just doesn’t have the ball-skills needed to be a man corner

At least we now know that Bruce Arians is a fan of the site.

Knowing that much of this week would involve discussion of Bush and Josh Bell, I went back and watched as much as I could of Bell with the Broncos last year using the indispensable Game Rewind feature over at NFL.com. And from what I can tell, not only should Bell continue to be playing in the dime over Brandon Underwood, but he should be getting a serious look at the nickel spot. He’s a willing tackler and has at least a modicum of a sense when it comes to playing the ball when it’s in the air. Yes, he was the victim of a perfect pass by Ben Roethlisberger last Sunday – that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a better option than Bush, who is now an even bigger target for opposing offenses than he was before.

The man Packer fans love to hate, Jarrett Bush, had a pretty solid day against the Bears.

Yes, he had yet another penalty on special teams, and yes he allowed a completion here and there – but so did Charles Woodson for goodness sake. From scrimmage, overall, Bush was fine. The play below is a perfect example of the type of solid yet unspectacular play that gets wiped from fans’ memories but it’s an excellent play by Bush. (Apologies for  the choppy video)

Notice how Cutler keeps his eyes on the slant. Bush does a good job of keeping his zone responsibility and breaking on the swing pass to Forte and of making the tackle. (Though I do wish he’d wrap up)

It’s not highlight material by any means. But it is a good illustration of how Bush can be serviceable in this scheme. Yes, he’s a disaster in man coverage. For whatever reason, he just has a terrible time locating the ball in the air. He is vary rarely flat out beat. He is almost always right on top of whoever it is he is covering in man. But he just doesn’t have the ball-skills needed to be a man corner, which is why he was so terrible in Sanders’ scheme. But in Capers’ scheme you can get by with his athleticism, as is evident in the clip above. He’s going to take his lumps as the season goes on, but he’s better than some of the dreck you see paraded around Nickel and Dime packages across the NFL.

That’s what I’m calling Jarret Bush and Brandon Underwood after witnessing the below:

Here’s hoping for a LOT of Big Okie going forward…

Wow, it must be hard to be a Packers fan.

Your team wins a big game that helps put it atop the wild card race and all fans can do is cry about the second half, or about losing Al Harris and Aaron Kampman, or about the special teams coach (really?) ANYTHING but enjoy the win, right? Even for 24 hours? Hell, I’d take ONE hour. Not 10 mins after I had Gut Reactions up, someone was opining how this team would now, obviously, be going 6-10 again.

Injuries happen. To every team. The teams that deal with it the best are the ones that win. The one that don’t, lose. Now, there are two big components at play here – the depth on the team and how the coaches use it. You can bet Dom Capers knows damn well he can’t run out Bush and Underwood in a lot of Dime stuff and will scale that back. You can also expect to see less blitzing by Woodson, which isn’t exactly a terrible thing. Tramon Williams, if not as stout off the edge, is actually faster and could surprise in a blitzing role, as could Jarrett Bush.

And don’t think I don’t know the mere mention of his name sends shivers down your spine. I’m right there with you – in fact, all I keep seeing in my head is the quote from a scout to Bob McGinn after the 49er preseason game last year: “God is he bad”

It’s simple really – every time Bush is burned for a touchdown, I will be laying the blame squarely at Ted Thompson’s feet. He’s had years now to see the deficiencies in Bush’s game and has refused to let him go, going so far as to match the offer the Titans gave him as a restricted free agent this past offseason.

Fine Ted. But now here’s your boy for all the world to see as the Nickel corner of the Green Bay Packers.

When I saw the Dime and Bush make their first appearances down in Tampa, I’ll admit I was shocked and thought Capers must have taken ill or there had been a mutiny in the coaching box. No way any self-respecting coordinator would ever think Bush was fit to see the field, right? And then it dawned on me – Capers was saying to McCarthy and Thompson: Look, it’s bad enough you’ve given me a defensive end to play linebacker, but now you really expect me to work with Jarrett Freekin’ Bush? Fine. You know what, you love him so much? I’m gonna play the guy and when people howl and scream about how bad he is, everyone will be asking YOU why he’s even on the team, not me.

Or something like that.

On second thought, maybe the Doom Merchants have a point.

So they went and did it. Fine. Bush is a ‘great special teams player’. Fine. (Bullshit, but fine.) IF he ‘continues to improve’ he’ll become a bargain. Fine. 

I will only reiterate what I said earlier. The kid is a coach killer, along the lines of Ahmad Carroll or Cletidus Hunt, players from Sherman’s tenure that seduced the coaching staff into keeping them on the roster due to their athletic ability only to cost the team with poor play and dumb penalties at the worst possible times. Jarrett Bush is no different. Sure, he’ll make the odd play on teams, down a punt inside the 5, etc. but nothing that couldn’t be gotten out of a low round pick or even a Patrick Lee. And as sure as night follows day, he’ll follow his good play with a slew of awful, boneheaded ones. 

I’ve been accused of hypocrisy on this one, (see the comment section) due to my championing Anthony Smith, another young player who used to play from scrimmage and was relegated to special teams duty due to poor play. Again – fine. I have no problem putting on tape of both players and standing by my assessments of each. That’s part of what being in pro-personnel (and/or a blogger that wishes he was) is – judging talent and how it projects. Obviously Bush has generated a lot of interest around the league for his special teams play, and I can understand why. He’s young, athletic and comes relatively cheap. Again, I stand by my assessment that any team looking for what Jarrett Bush does can find it in the draft. It’s a mistake to pay him $4.5 million over 3 years.

All this doesn’t even begin to cover the ramifications this signing will have on talks with Tramon Williams. Needless to say, you can be sure that Williams won’t be in camp without a new deal…

It’s sooooooooo close.

(Hattip: Packers Lounge Twitter)

And before anyone starts, I am quite familiar with the argument that says “Well, the Titans and the Ravens both want him and they’re really good teams. Bush must be good.”

Um, no. He’s the ultimate coach killer, a player that has all the athletic ability in the world that just can’t put it together mentally. The Titans or the Ravens will find this out the hard way. And yes, this makes me smarter than all the personnel people working for the Packers, Ravens or Titans. If you work for one of those establishments, feel free to contact me regarding a position in your pro personnel department. My first report will be on Jarrett Bush. He has no place on an NFL team. You’re welcome.

One other thing in regards to our favorite blogger and the man who just can’t seem to let him go – does anyone else find Thompson’s irrational esteem for Bush’s abilities eerily similar to his inability to see just how terrible a punter Derrick Frost was? I mean, the entire world could see that Frost was terrible after about a month. Yet Thompson held onto him until December, seemingly out of sheer stubbornness, a pattern that is continuing with Bush. The mind boggles…

On the one hand, I can see where the team is coming from. The guy has zero leverage. Sure he can sit out – have fun getting a real job since you can’t sign with any other NFL team. Makes perfect sense. On the other hand, the Packers bungled this when they handed Ryan Grant a contract extension last offseason (which I was completely against) and overpaid greatly at the same time. Add to this, I have no doubt Williams noticed the fact that, if both players were to play 2009 on their tenders, Williams would be making $460,000 for the season while Jarrett Bush would be making $1.01million. If I were Tramon, I would call up Thompson, ask him to put on film of both players while looking at those figures, laugh loudly, and then hang up the phone.

Thompson’s inexplicable love for Jarrett Bush – ruining the team both on and off the field!

Just let him GO Ted! I understand wanting the right to match any offer made to John Kuhn but for the love of all that is HOLY – Jarrett Bush has no place on the Packers (or any NFL teams’) roster.

How this kid keeps sticking around is beyond me. He. Is. Awful. And not just from scrimmage, but on Teams as well. Total. Trash.

Here endeth the rant.