Reggie Bush grew up in Spring Valley, California. He played football and ran track at Helix High School where he was a teammate of current San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Alex Smith. As a senior on the track team Bush finished 3rd in the state 200 meters. On the football team he played running back and returned punts. As a sophomore, Bush earned first team all-state honors. The following season he ran for over 2,200 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also caught six touchdown passes and returned two punts for touchdowns. He finished the season with 3,135 all purpose yards and was named first team all-city, all-state, and all-American. As a senior Bush missed four games due to a broken wrist and still managed to rush for 1,691 yards and score 27 rushing touchdowns. He was named first team all-city, all-state, and all-American for his performance. Reggie finished his career with 4,005 rushing yards, averaging 12 yards per carry. Reggie was considered to be one of the top prospects in the nation and accepted a scholarship to play at USC where he majored in Political Science and was nicknamed “the president”. Upon his arrival at USC, Bush became an instant contributor, rushing for 521 yards and 3 touchdowns as a freshman. He also caught 15 passes for 314 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was named freshman all-pac ten honorable mention and freshman all-American honorable mention following his first season at USC. Reggie nearly doubled his production as a sophomore, rushing for 908 yards and scoring 6 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 43 passes for 509 yards and a career high 7 receiving touchdowns. He was named first team all-pac ten as a running back and second team all-pac ten as a punt returner. He finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting and was named team co-MVP along with teammate Matt Leinart. As a junior, Bush was widely considered to be the best player in college football. He had career highs in attempts (200), rushing yards (1,740), and rushing touchdowns (16). He also caught 37 passes for 478 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was named first taeam all-pac 10 as a running back and second team all-pac ten as a punt returner. He was named pac ten offensive player of the year for the second consecutive year and was a first team all-American selection. He was also named team MVP for the second consecutive season. His honors include the Walter Camp Award, the Doak Walker award, and the Heisman Trophy. In the Rose Bowl Bush and Matt Leinart became the first two Heisman Trophy winners to play a game on the same team.

Reggie Bush is an extremely versatile player who can line up at running back, receiver, and return kicks. He has great speed and quickness and is stronger than one might think. He has excellent instincts and great vision. He hits the hole quickly, keeps his legs moving, and will run through arm tackles. Once he has the ball in his hands, Bush is a threat to score from anywhere on the field. He is very elusive in the open field, changes directions well, and possesses a unique ability to make defenders miss. He is a great receiver out of the backfield with soft hands and he can split out wide as well. He can run between the tackles but he isn’t a power runner and he is more effective running outside and turning the corner. Reggie also has top notch intangibles including an unmatched work ethic. At USC Reggie had the benefit of a great supporting cast, a luxury he may not have in the NFL. Reggie lacks ideal size for a featured back in the NFL at right around 200 pounds. He could benefit from bulking up some if he can do so without losing his gamebreaking speed. He split time in college which is good because he hasn’t had a lot of wear and tear on his body with less than 450 carries in his three year career. The bad part of that is he hasn’t proven he can carry the load by himself over the course of a full season. His career high for a season is just 200 carries. He has never carried the ball 25 times in a game and has only had three games in his career in which he carried the ball 20 times. This along with his lack of ideal size raises the question as to whether or not he can carry the load as a featured back over the course of a full 16 game NFL season. I think he would be a great fit on a team that has another good back he can split carries with, allowing him to spend time at receiver as well. Reggie Bush is one of the most talented players to come out of college in recent memory. He should be the first pick in the 2006 NFL draft.