In the three seasons since the Steelers drafted Devin Bush with the 10th overall selection, he has missed 14 games and made no Pro Bowls. Bush no longer even is guaranteed a starting job with the depth chart listing Bush OR Robert Spillane at the starting inside linebacker spot beside Myles Jack.
Bush enters the final year of his contract in 2022 as the Steelers declined the fifth-year option on his contract.
Bush, though, doesn’t view this as a “make-or-break” season.
“I’m going to still be in the NFL (in 2023), so we’ll see,” Bush said, via Mark Kaboly of TheAthletic.com.
Bush is fully healthy after an ACL tear 22 months ago and said getting accustomed to new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and linebackers coach Brian Flores is the only thing holding him back now.
In 15 snaps Saturday night, his only play was the one he didn’t make as Bush had no statistics.
“I think we got some good things on tape,” Bush said.
Bush will have a role with the Steelers this season, but how much of one depends on who wins the competition at the position. That’s not what the Steelers expected when they drafted him so high, and it might mean this is his last season in Pittsburgh.