Hello: Devin Bush Jr.
[Greg Oyster/247Sports]
Michigan survived a late push from Florida State to land one of their top overall targets in the class, four-star Hollywood (FL) Flanagan ILB Devin Bush Jr., who announced his commitment to the Wolverines in a ceremony this afternoon. Bush, the son of former FSU and NFL safety and current Flanagan head coach Devin Bush, joins teammates Devin Gil and Josh Metellus in the 2016 class, which now sits at 22 commits.
Bush is the second linebacker in the class, along with three-star Dytarious Johnson, and as an early enrollee he'll have every opportunity to make an instant impact at Michigan's thinnest position group.
GURU RATINGS
Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
3*, #13 ILB |
4*, #5 ILB, #184 Ovr |
4*, 82, #12 OLB, #180 Ovr |
3*, 88, #19 ILB, #456 Ovr |
4*, #11 ILB, #241 Ovr |
As you can see, there's a major split in Bush's rankings; Rivals and ESPN have him as solid four-star while Scout and 247 place him in high three-star territory. Bush's size—listed at 5'11", ~225 pounds everywhere but Scout (6'0", 215)—is the likely cause of the difference in opinion; those listings are apparently a little generous on length, as Bush measured in at 5'9", 227 at The Opening.
[Hit THE JUMP for the informative stuff.]
SCOUTING
Scout's free evaluation doesn't sound like that of a three-star prospect:
Plays fast to the ball. Very instinctive player who plays one step faster than many opponents. Has very good game speed. Great inside the box going downhill. Works some on the edge as a blitzer as well and he is very effective. When he hits, there is pop with it. A lot of opponents go backwards. Best in attack mode. Can move sideline to sideline. Plays with aggression and an ideal in the box. Not elite size or length, but big enough.
Strengths
- Hitting Ability
- Instincts
- Strength
Areas to Improve
- Pass Coverage Skills
- Size
While Scout notes pass coverage as an area for improvement, Bush stood out in that regard on the camp circuit last summer, especially at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge, where he earned #3 defensive performer status after a pair of picks in 7-on-7 action:
Bush, who came up with two interceptions, is a very smart linebacker that is much faster in the open field than the tight ends and running backs originally thought. One interception was in the flat near the sideline and one was downfield when covering a wheel route. Bush knows when to bump the running backs and tight ends, and knows when to jump so he can knock down the pass.
ESPN has high praise for his run defense, athleticism, and instincts, and they also like his play on passing downs ($):
We like the blitzing facet of his game on passing downs and ability to pressure and get after quarterbacks. Would like to see him time his jump more consistently but he will close fast and aggressively on evading quarterbacks and can be disruptive. Quick to get to his zone drop in coverage and will blanket his underneath area with strong plant and drive burst.
Bush is an explosive linebacker prospect who would be higher up our board with a bit more length. We feel he has better short-range burst and overall tools that project best inside than out at the college level and with that projection he will need to continue adding size and strength before making an impact as an every-down linebacker.
Bush is a lock to play inside linebacker at Michigan, which will play to his strengths.
Rivals' Rob Cassidy caught Bush in live game action last month and came away without much worry about his size ($):
Flanagan linebacker Devin Bush lacks elite height but continues to show why that isn't much of a concern. Bush swarmed around the ball on Friday and made a number of plays to help hold a high-powered St. Thomas offense in check for most of the night. Bush is sound fundamentally and plays with little regard for his own body. His closing speed is what makes him a high-level prospect, but he's not half bad in coverage, either.
The scouting reports are quite consistent: Bush is an athletic, instinctive run-stuffer who plays with aggression and can hold up in coverage; he is also short. While that latter bit has caused concern among a couple of the recruiting sites, it certainly hasn't prevented top programs from taking a hard run at him, as evidenced by...
OFFERS
Bush holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Miami (YTM), Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among several others.
HIGH SCHOOL
Flanagan, which now has seven FBS commits in this class alone, captured their first football state title this year after winning Florida's 8A classification. Michigan has already offered two Flanagan prospects in the 2017 class, four-star CB Stanford Samuels and three-star WR Clevan Thomas.
STATS
A couple sites have incomplete stats but I couldn't dig up anything definitive. Rivals says he had 113 tackles, three picks, and two sacks as a sophomore; 247 lists consecutive 67-tackle seasons for his last two years but that seems low—also, Bush's senior season just wrapped up last week.
FAKE 40 TIME
Bush's SPARQ-verified combine numbers from The Opening:
LB Devin Bush Jr., 5-9, 227, 4.65 40-yard dash, 4.68 shuttle, 40-foot PB throw, 30.8-inch vert 97.02 SPARQ
He's got some wheels for a linebacker.
VIDEO
Mid-season junior highlights:
Freshman highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
The competition is wide open at inside linebacker for 2016; assuming Ben Gedeon locks down a spot, Bush should be right in the mix to play next to him. His competition will be Noah Furbush, Mike McCray (if healthy), Jared Wanger, and perhaps a fellow freshman if Michigan brings another ILB on board—it'd be a surprise if Dytarious Johnson competed for time right away. Bush getting on campus early will be a big help, since he'll need to add some muscle before he's viable at the Big Ten level.
Whether or not Bush locks down a starting job, he should be part of the linebacker rotation as a freshman, and when Gedeon departs after next season it'd be very surprising if he didn't step into a starting role.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Bush fills the most glaring hole in the class as an inside linebacker capable of competing for time right away. Michigan is now at 22 commits in a class that will reach 27; the expectation is we'll see status changes with perhaps a couple more current commits as the coaches try to fit the top remaining targets into those spots. One may drop tomorrow when top-ranked running back Kareem Walker chooses between Michigan and FSU.
Other top targets include DT Rashan Gary, TE Isaac Nauta, CB David Long, CB LaVert Hill, OT Jean Delance, OG Terrance Davis, WR Donnie Corley, WR Dylan Crawford, ATH Jordan Fuller, WDE Levi Onwuzirike, ILB Dontavious Jackson, and ILB Jonathan Jones. Tight ends Jacob Mathis and Chase Allen are both distinct possibilities to end up in the class should Nauta, as expected, land with Georgia.
Here's the class as it currently stands:
December 16th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^
As M-Dog reminds us above, there were a lot of complaints about Harbaugh going after a bunch of 2 star or no star players on the camp circuit this past summer.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
Tremendous! Great pickup at a position of much need.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
I'm more than happy to eat crow on this one. Lets hope the good times continue tomorrow with Walker.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
This is two years in a row that we've stolen a recruit from Florida that FSU was going after - last year it was Shelton Johnson. That's pretty impressive.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
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December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
I was referring specifically to beating FSU for kids from Florida, but yeah, beating them for kids from anywhere is still a big deal.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
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December 16th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^
The staff seeminly put a lot of eggs in this basket, and I would hate to see them waste their eggs.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
There's a Harbaugh-ism in there somewhere.
"I don't like to compare recruits to chickens with machine guns."
December 16th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
A-Always B-Be C-Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
Harbaugh and staff getting it done and enjoying some coffee [and steak and whole milk]!
December 16th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
pick up on a hump day!
December 16th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
We need to take a minute and appreciate this. The post-season recruiting battles rarely went our way in previous years. Meanwhile our staff called their shot and beat Florida fucking State for a kid.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
A legacy no less....
December 16th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
Welcome and Go Blue Devin! Another in a wonderful line of Devins for this team
Also, Don please post the video of the hat eating online. Lemon would be an acceptable substitution.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
My penance for lack of faith was something more productive—Beveled Guilt is now a bit more gilt.
December 16th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Good news is so much more fun than bad...Go Blue!
December 16th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
The start of a great couple of days for the future of Harbaughs team!
December 16th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Props to Jim and the staff for a bang up job recruiting.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
Our class is up to #5 in the country now, and I have a feeling that's where it will finish. The teams ahead of us are ahead of us by a decent margin, so unless they lose some higher-end commits, we'll likely stay behind them even with Gary and Walker added. Now, if we get both of those, plus one of the OL guys and one of Long or Hill, then we might move into the top 4. Giggity.
HOWEVA, it will also be very tough for anyone behind us to pass us if we pick up even a few of the above mentioned guys. Considering Stanford is the team immediately behind us, a Long flip would go a Long way.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
YAWN!
What the Hell has having the highest rated class ever gotten us? Except a stockpile of talent for JH to coach up!
As I look back on our litany of disappointing 5* - let's go all the way back to Kevin Grady - I realize keeping score of aggregate starz is a sucker's game.
Let's keep track of how many players JH puts in the league, as the poster behind Jean Delance showed... that's worth counting and telling recruits about!
December 16th, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^
That was our fault and not the fault of top-five classes. Meyer got several top 5 classes in a row and look at what he did with that.
Harbaugh + Top 5 Classes = WIN.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
I've played with 247's class calculator, and yeah, UM can get a top 5 class realistically I think. But even with landing all the realistic guys plus guys UM is on the outside on, like Nauta and Jackson (TX LB), UM would top out at 3 or so. But hey, the best part about these recruiting classes is not where they're ranked, but rather the fact that they will be coached by Harbaugh which is what has me the most optomistic.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^
Your last point - that's what I'm Just Sayin...
Just Sayin
December 16th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
MOAR linebackers, please. MOAR.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
Alabama, Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Miami (YTM), Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
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December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
Maybe if David Long adds some weight, we could have a LB corps of Long-Johnson-Bush.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
Unfortunately Bush will play ILB, otherwise we could hear the common phrase "Johnson playing inside Bush"
December 16th, 2015 at 1:56 PM ^
But . . . but . . . according to Ohio State, Michigan can only succeed by "stealing" kids out of Ohio.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
Big pick up! His height won't be a factor most of the time. The only time I see him having trouble is when he is matched up with big/tall tight ends. Great day to be a wolverine. Let's keep the momentum going tomorrow and land Kareem Walker.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
Is he playing against the Kowboys with a K in that picture? Obviously endorsed by Krusty the Klown, right? How was this questionable level of competition not addressed in the write-up?
December 16th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
Anyone can beat up on Cowboys, but to dominate against Kowboys you have to be able to take it to the next level.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
Welcome Devin!! Go Blue!!!
December 16th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
Mr. Bush! May you enjoy every success on and off the field.
December 16th, 2015 at 6:22 PM ^
This is a mighty large get based on bush's dad's legacy at Florida State and playing in their backyard.
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December 16th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
Harbaugh and this staff are not normal. In a really good way.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
Looking forward to seeing him get some run out there and that the staff seems to be prioritizing gamers rather than ideal physical profiles.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
you are a Wolverine!
December 16th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
Done and done.
December 16th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
December 16th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
4.65 40 time is damn impressive for a LB
December 16th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
Bush fills our need for more athletic linebackers. Our lack of speed and athleticism at the linebacker position was exposed in several games this year, OSU and Indiana immediately come to mind, so it's imperative that we land 2-3 high level linebacker recruits this year. Bush is probably a better athlete than any of the current LB on our roster so this was a big time pickup for the team.
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