5 burning questions the Steelers must answer in 2019
3. Is Devin Bush ready to replace Ryan Shazier?
The Steelers front office was mostly applauded for their bold decision to move up in the first round of April’s draft to snag Devin Bush. The team’s plan is clearly for him to start as a rookie at one of their inside linebacker spots.
The unfortunate truth in Pittsburgh is that they’ve been missing an athletic playmaker in the middle of their defense ever since losing Ryan Shazier to injury. Bush may not be quite the electric athlete that Shazier was in his prime, but he’s a really sudden player in his own right. Flip on tape of his collegiate career at Michigan and you see a linebacker who is capable of making plays from sideline to sideline.
Bush should have a relatively easy time picking up the nuances of run defense at this level, but he’s going to struggle a little bit in the passing game early in his career. Just how quickly he develops into a guy the Steelers can trust to cover tight ends and running backs will be a massive factor in determining how good PIttsburgh’s defense can be this year.
It’s unfair to expect Bush to play at Shazier’s level right away, but the Steelers need for him to play like a solid starter at the very least. If he can show shades of what Shazier gave this defense it’s going to do wonders to improve this group’s effectiveness in 2019.