Two days ago, former NFL General Manager Bill Polian said he didn’t think running back Reggie Bush was worth much in free agency. Today, after Bush signed with the Lions, Polian changed his tune.
Appearing on ESPN’s NFL Live, Polian was asked which of today’s free agent signings he liked the best, and he said Bush to Detroit will be a game changer.
“I like Reggie Bush,” Polian said. “And what it tells you is they’re going to be the Greatest Show on Turf. Think Marshall Faulk -- because that’s the kind of back he really is.”
Polian, of course, is the man who traded Faulk from Indianapolis to St. Louis and allowed the Rams to build the Greatest Show on Turf offense. It’s a little strange to hear Polian use a player he traded away as the basis for comparison when singing the praises of another player whose value Polian was just minimizing two days ago. But it got even stranger.
Two days ago, Polian said of Bush, “He’s not a three-down back anymore. He’s got seven years in, that’s a lot of shelf life for a running back. He’s had injuries. He’s not a great blocker.”
Today, Polian said of Bush, “He’ll be a three-down back, there’s no two ways about it, because he can come out of the backfield in that spread that they use any time, and a quarterback will find him. He can run those choice routes. He can run the draw. He can do all of those things and he adds explosion to an offense that already had some.”
Why did Polian change his tune? Who knows? But Lions fans will have to hope Bill Polian on Wednesday was right, and Bill Polian on Monday was wrong.