New Orleans Saints: Is Reggie Bush an Overrated Part of Sean Payton's Game Plan?

The debate continues on: Is Reggie Bush overrated or perhaps underrated?

This is the great dividing question among all Saints fans. If you drew a parallel line between Saints football and Christianity, it would equal the debate among Calvinists and Arminians. 

Every Saints fan has an opinion. Every Saints fan is vehemently convinced that their view on Bush is the correct view. And every Saints fan agrees that they love the Saints—with our without Reggie in the lineup. 

It is for this reason that the debate is one of the most useless in all of sports. The Saints are a winning football team whether Reggie Bush is on the field or not. 

Reggie is not the MVP of the league in part because at the end of the day the Saints' offense moves the ball and scores points whether Reggie is on the field or not. Pierre Thomas provides explosive runs, as did Chris Ivory a season ago. Lance Moore lines up in the slot and creates mismatches similar to the way Bush does. And Robert Meachem is adept at taking a reverse and making something exciting happen a la Reggie. 

Those are going to be just some of the contentions of the overrated camp. 

On the pro-Reggie side, you have the argument that Reggie is the best decoy in the league. Second, you have the unbelievable number of exciting plays Reggie has created in his five seasons in the league. And of course, his breakaway speed means he's always one touch from hitting paydirt. 

These are going to be your primary arguments on both sides. Both sides have very reasonable, well-thought-out, logical reasons for believing as they do. My best persuasion skills at work are not going to ultimately change anyone's mind. But it may cause you to pause and ponder the great question of Saints fanhood: Is Reggie Bush an overrated part of the Saints' game plan? 

Me Says Underrated

The question is not whether Reggie is the most valuable player on the Saints team, for we all know who owns that title. The question in its most pure form is this:  Are the Saints a better football team with or without Reggie Bush? 

I want to go back to October 25, 2009. The Saints were in Miami against the struggling Dolphins. Going into that game, logic would have told you the Saints were the obvious choice to win that game. But the offense, including its fearless leader Drew Brees, came out of the gate struggling. 

When the team rallied late in the second half, it was a minor miracle. That they had any chance to win was proof this team was different than Saints teams of yesteryear. 

With Miami on top 34-24, and the ball at the Miami 10-yard line, Sean Payton decided his best option to score a touchdown was to give the ball to Reggie Bush. And if you're giving the ball to Reggie Bush, you want to get him to the outside. 

What is so often forgotten about the play is that the play was so well blocked and executed overall. Truthfully, I could have at least gotten to the 5-yard line on that play. Saying that would generally seem to intimate that anyone could have made that play. 

Think about it for a moment though, would Sean Payton have called that play for anyone else? And would it have been blocked with as much effort and execution with any other player? Perhaps you could answer both in the affirmative. 

However, I say no.

I say Sean Payton doesn't call that play down there if not for Reggie; and the Saints have to search for a way to score from the most difficult place in the red zone—the 10-yard line. But giving the ball to Bush gives you an advantage most teams don't have. Reggie makes the impossible possible. I contend the Saints would not have scored a touchdown on that red zone trip—based on the way the game was going—if not for Bush flying through the air to score that miracle touchdown. 

The way Bush flew through the air was amazing in real time, but just as amazing the 50th time a defensive coordinator watched that game in his office the week before his team faced the Saints. 

Simply put, Bush's aerodynamics are virtually unmatched in a league full of amazing athletes. It is for that reason defensive coordinators cannot sleep on Reggie. The amazing plays keep giving them nightmares. 

This may seem silly, but truthfully, coaches are egotistical proud men. They don't want their defense to be the one that gives up a big-time highlight. They much prefer to marvel at the theatrics on a Tuesday night than a Sunday afternoon.

And because they are so proud, they will do anything to stop this from happening to them. If it means orienting their entire game plan to stopping Bush, they figure that allows them the peace to sleep Sunday night.

The flaw, of course, in such a plan is that it leaves the Saints' other skill players with more room to operate. If Marques Colston is lined up one-on-one with a shorter corner, good night for the defense. If Robert Meachem sees press coverage with no safety over the top, he knows he's scoring. And if Reggie is lined up outside, Pierre Thomas will have a lot more room to run up the middle.

Like it or not, Sean Payton creates better matchups when Reggie Bush is on the field. This may all seem obvious, because it is. Better matchups means execution becomes much simpler. Isn't that what every coach wants?

Because Reggie does this—creates mismatches, makes plays and is the ultimate scoring threat—the Saints' offense is better. So what if Reggie isn't putting up the numbers of a Pro Bowler! Our expectations are too high. Had Reggie been a late first-round or second-round pick, nobody would be calling him a bust. They'd call him exactly what he is—an extremely valuable member of a super team.