This Steelers player will be a first-time Pro Bowler in 2020

Linebacker Devin Bush’s promising rookie season foretold an impressive leap in Year 2.

Following an all-world college career at Michigan, Devin Bush was considered just about as much of a can’t-miss NFL prospect as an inside linebacker can be. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who know a thing or two about developing defensive studs, didn’t have to think too long about snatching him up at No. 10 overall in 2019, and the gritty Wolverine went on to put forth a respectable season that did all necessary justice to that pick.

But heading into his sophomore campaign, bet on Bush to make the leap and put the rest of the AFC on notice with his first Pro Bowl nod.

Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush has a real chance at a Pro Bowl

It’s not the easiest task in the world to snag the spotlight when one of your fellow linebackers is TJ Watt, but Bush has the kind of ceiling that suggests he’s more than up to the task.

He started 15 games as a rookie and appeared in all 16, logging a full 82% of available defensive snaps. He did a bit of everything, recovering four fumbles, defending four passes, grabbing a pair of interceptions, and even finding the end zone in Week 6 in a performance that earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

At 5-foot-11 and 235 pounds, Bush isn’t exactly a monstrous presence as inside ‘backers go. But if that means he’s got a chip on his shoulder, there’s no better place to go to work than in a Rust Belt city with hard-nosed bona fides.

He’s about that action. And while he probably doesn’t have much of a chance of catching Lamar Jackson in a footrace, Devin Bush is a fine bet to establish himself as a man to be feared in the AFC North with a prolific sophomore campaign for the Steel City boys.