Reggie Bush: Most Overrated Football Player Ever?

Is Reggie Bush the most overrated football player ever? 

On the surface to most football fans that statement sounds ridiculous.  Bush was a Freshman All-American in 2003 for the USC Trojans, a consensus All-American in 2004 and 2005, and won the Heisman Trophy in 2005, not to mention a National Championship in 2004.

He then became a top two choice by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 NFL Draft, was compared to Gale Sayers, almost got the first "100" rating in ESPN's draft preview, and seemed destined for greatness.

Then reality set in. 

He couldn't just run around everybody in the NFL.  His whole life he had simply been so much more athletic than everyone else, and that was no longer the case.  He was like the kid who has his growth spurt in sixth grade and dominates for a couple of years, and then everyone catches up and he becomes just average. 

So far he hasn't even been the best running back out of that draft class.  Joseph Addai was an integral part of the Indianapolis Colts' championship season, and Maurice Jones-Drew has had much better statistical production for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

So how did this happen? 

How did such a sure-fire "future hall of famer" not live up to expectations?  How did a great college football player's greatest NFL highlight to this point become getting jacked up by Sheldon Brown? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqmdI3tVuMA)

I personally believe that ESPN had quite a bit to do with it.  I don't blame them, but ESPN loves to hype up their own shows and games.  Remember the "Game of the Century" between Michigan and Ohio State? 

Remember the unstoppable Big 12 this season?  ESPN has had USC on ABC quite a bit the past few years, and so they promote USC.  They even had a two week SERIES on whether or not USC was the "greatest team of all time."  I am not sure exactly what the results were, but they finished in the top two.

So what does USC do in it's next game?  Loses to Texas.  To qualify as the greatest team ever, you have to go undefeated.

That USC hype rubbed off on the players, none more so than Bush.  Bush was an electrifying open field runner, a SportsCenter Top 10 highlight waiting to happen.  He was billed as one of the greatest college football players of all time.  He was a great college player, no doubt about it, but not that great.

Other reasons for Bush's hype may be that he played in a weak conference.  The PAC-10 has long been known as an offensively minded conference.  Apart from southern California, they don't have extremely fertile recruiting grounds that the South and East do. 

This may have contributed to a lack of defensive speed in the conference, and when combined with Bush's blazing speed, made him look a lot better than he really was.

As a short disclaimer, Bush is a good returner in the NFL, and has been a decent all around running back.  That being said, he has not lived up to the hype.

This is my first article and I would appreciate any comments.  Was Bush overrated or does he need some more time?