- Sep 8, 2014
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Film breakdown: Florida may be able to run at UM LB Devin Bush
https://theathletic.com/90453/2017/...orida-may-be-able-to-run-at-um-lb-devin-bush/
August 28 2017
All of a sudden, Florida has a quarterback and the matchup in Texas between the Wolverines and Gators becomes that much juicier. As Michigan rolls out a revamped defense, projected Florida QB Malik Zaire gives Florida a reliable option to try and take advantage of new faces on the Wolverines defense.
Over his three seasons at Notre Dame, Zaire graded out to a positive 11.0 according to Pro Football Focus. The Florida offense will be better if Zaire is at the helm, but this still isn’t going to be a game-breaking attack, especially in the passing game. Florida coach Jim McElwain said last week that three different quarterbacks could play in this game.
Luckily for Florida, Michigan is also replacing a ton of talent on defense.
One of the new starters in defensive coordinator Don Brown’s unit is sophomore Devin Bush at middle linebacker. He arrives in the starting role with a weight of expectations, and a lot will be riding on him to stop the run, which means that may be an area of the Michigan defense for the Gators to expose.
While examining every down Bush played during the spring game, his shortcomings in the run game emerged.
Here’s what I saw when breaking down film on Bush (No. 10):
I don’t like that he takes five steps toward the line of scrimmage right on the snap. If the ball is handed on the jet sweep, he’s out of position because he doesn’t have a good angle to chase the ball carrier. The play ends up being a QB Zone play and he's still out of position. He goes underneath an offensive lineman and gets washed out of the play. He needs to relax on the snap, take one read step toward the line of scrimmage and then shuffle towards the direction of the play.
He ends up being the linebacker away from the play on this sort of zone split blocking scheme by the offense, but for some reason he tries to fly into No. 23's gap. He’s running toward the line of scrimmage again, with no payoff. The better play is to be patient and wait for the running back to cut back into his arms. Instead, he allows a lineman to get his hands on him and, because he's a smaller linebacker, he’s going to have a tough time countering that.
Again, he just gets so close to the line of scrimmage right off the snap. Nothing is telling him the ball is coming into his gap but he attacks it anyway. In fact, the guard is pulling away from him. That should be his first key. As a result, he’s so close to the line of scrimmage that, once he reads where the ball is, he can’t go over top of the lineman to flow to his right.
Offensive linemen are going to have a hard time getting their hands on linebackers when they play from depth — the linebackers can use their speed to go over top of the lineman. If you’re too low, like Bush, you’re playing into the lineman’s hands.
Finally, here’s a play where Michigan runs at Bush and he does a better job. He has to take on the block of the fullback with his shoulder, which he does. It would be better if he did it with his inside shoulder and kept his outside arm free, though.
If the running back kept running behind his fullback, he can squeeze between the tackle and the fullback to create a nice gain. The Will linebacker is free coming over the top to now meet the running back in that hole. If Bush forces the running back to go between the fullback and the guard, the Will has less distance to travel. Second, if the running back runs behind the fullback and then bounces outside, Bush will be free to disengage and run to the outside to chase down the ball carrier.
Bush's teammates don’t do a great job on this power run from the offense. No. 9, does a decent job coming down the line and taking on the trap block but has to do a better job of coming underneath that trapper and forcing the pulling H-back to move to the outside and not up the hole that’s created. Mike McCray is probably the biggest issue on this play, as he has to take on the block of the H-back instead of going outside.
Yes, ideally the play bounces outside to Bush, if the end does his job, but you have to react better when it doesn’t. This puts Bush in a bad spot. The reason defenses want to bounce (spill) everything to the outside is because if the ball hits in the hole as it does here, the offensive tackle who is down blocking can easily get his hands on the backside linebacker and seal him. If the running back has to run laterally to the sideline, this gives the linebacker the ability to use his athletic ability to go over top of the lineman and run down the running back. Again, we can see that Bush is going to have problems fighting through blocks.
https://streamable.com/man33
This is okay. Bush is coming on a blitz and he keeps his gap integrity, sees the ball and spins back to try to make a play. The pass plays were a lot better. He’s very physical in coverage and I love it.
https://streamable.com/athcg
This is so nice to watch. Bush is walling off the crossing route and does it with such physicality that the receiver is never going to get open. It's another example of Bush being much more effective defending the pass rather than the run.
https://streamable.com/1ay01
He’s going to be tough to handle on blitzes with his quickness. Here he uses a nice dip-and-rip move to get the sack.
The bottom line: Devin Bush is a kid who needs to make some adjustments to get better. Luckily, everything examined in the run game is really fixable. He’s just over-anxious to make a play and it costs him at times. He needs to be patient and then use his athletic ability to make plays or else Florida will be able to attack him early in the opener and set the tempo on offense.
https://theathletic.com/90453/2017/...orida-may-be-able-to-run-at-um-lb-devin-bush/
August 28 2017
All of a sudden, Florida has a quarterback and the matchup in Texas between the Wolverines and Gators becomes that much juicier. As Michigan rolls out a revamped defense, projected Florida QB Malik Zaire gives Florida a reliable option to try and take advantage of new faces on the Wolverines defense.
Over his three seasons at Notre Dame, Zaire graded out to a positive 11.0 according to Pro Football Focus. The Florida offense will be better if Zaire is at the helm, but this still isn’t going to be a game-breaking attack, especially in the passing game. Florida coach Jim McElwain said last week that three different quarterbacks could play in this game.
Luckily for Florida, Michigan is also replacing a ton of talent on defense.
One of the new starters in defensive coordinator Don Brown’s unit is sophomore Devin Bush at middle linebacker. He arrives in the starting role with a weight of expectations, and a lot will be riding on him to stop the run, which means that may be an area of the Michigan defense for the Gators to expose.
While examining every down Bush played during the spring game, his shortcomings in the run game emerged.
Here’s what I saw when breaking down film on Bush (No. 10):
I don’t like that he takes five steps toward the line of scrimmage right on the snap. If the ball is handed on the jet sweep, he’s out of position because he doesn’t have a good angle to chase the ball carrier. The play ends up being a QB Zone play and he's still out of position. He goes underneath an offensive lineman and gets washed out of the play. He needs to relax on the snap, take one read step toward the line of scrimmage and then shuffle towards the direction of the play.
He ends up being the linebacker away from the play on this sort of zone split blocking scheme by the offense, but for some reason he tries to fly into No. 23's gap. He’s running toward the line of scrimmage again, with no payoff. The better play is to be patient and wait for the running back to cut back into his arms. Instead, he allows a lineman to get his hands on him and, because he's a smaller linebacker, he’s going to have a tough time countering that.
Again, he just gets so close to the line of scrimmage right off the snap. Nothing is telling him the ball is coming into his gap but he attacks it anyway. In fact, the guard is pulling away from him. That should be his first key. As a result, he’s so close to the line of scrimmage that, once he reads where the ball is, he can’t go over top of the lineman to flow to his right.
Offensive linemen are going to have a hard time getting their hands on linebackers when they play from depth — the linebackers can use their speed to go over top of the lineman. If you’re too low, like Bush, you’re playing into the lineman’s hands.
Finally, here’s a play where Michigan runs at Bush and he does a better job. He has to take on the block of the fullback with his shoulder, which he does. It would be better if he did it with his inside shoulder and kept his outside arm free, though.
If the running back kept running behind his fullback, he can squeeze between the tackle and the fullback to create a nice gain. The Will linebacker is free coming over the top to now meet the running back in that hole. If Bush forces the running back to go between the fullback and the guard, the Will has less distance to travel. Second, if the running back runs behind the fullback and then bounces outside, Bush will be free to disengage and run to the outside to chase down the ball carrier.
Bush's teammates don’t do a great job on this power run from the offense. No. 9, does a decent job coming down the line and taking on the trap block but has to do a better job of coming underneath that trapper and forcing the pulling H-back to move to the outside and not up the hole that’s created. Mike McCray is probably the biggest issue on this play, as he has to take on the block of the H-back instead of going outside.
Yes, ideally the play bounces outside to Bush, if the end does his job, but you have to react better when it doesn’t. This puts Bush in a bad spot. The reason defenses want to bounce (spill) everything to the outside is because if the ball hits in the hole as it does here, the offensive tackle who is down blocking can easily get his hands on the backside linebacker and seal him. If the running back has to run laterally to the sideline, this gives the linebacker the ability to use his athletic ability to go over top of the lineman and run down the running back. Again, we can see that Bush is going to have problems fighting through blocks.
https://streamable.com/man33
This is okay. Bush is coming on a blitz and he keeps his gap integrity, sees the ball and spins back to try to make a play. The pass plays were a lot better. He’s very physical in coverage and I love it.
https://streamable.com/athcg
This is so nice to watch. Bush is walling off the crossing route and does it with such physicality that the receiver is never going to get open. It's another example of Bush being much more effective defending the pass rather than the run.
https://streamable.com/1ay01
He’s going to be tough to handle on blitzes with his quickness. Here he uses a nice dip-and-rip move to get the sack.
The bottom line: Devin Bush is a kid who needs to make some adjustments to get better. Luckily, everything examined in the run game is really fixable. He’s just over-anxious to make a play and it costs him at times. He needs to be patient and then use his athletic ability to make plays or else Florida will be able to attack him early in the opener and set the tempo on offense.
