Huard: What Seahawks are getting in LB Devin Bush, why they signed him

The Seahawks entered the 2023 offseason with a major hole at inside linebacker with Cody Barton leaving in free agency and Jordyn Brooks tearing his ACL in Week 16.

Seattle made an early move to address that lack of depth with the signing of Devin Bush Jr., a 24-year-old inside backer who comes to the Seahawks after spending the first four years of his career in Pittsburgh with the Steelers, who drafted him No. 10 overall in 2019.

Seahawks sign 2019 1st-round inside LB Devin Bush Jr.

So who exactly is Bush? And why did the Seahawks go sign him in the first week of NFL free agency? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard shared some thoughts during Friday’s Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports.

Before diving into what Huard said on Friday, it is important to note that Huard is a longtime college football analyst who currently calls games for FOX Sports.

“I had him in college I think three or four different times (when Bush was at) Michigan,” Huard said. “He’s an undersized guy. He would walk in that room at 5 foot 11 and 230 pounds and he does not overwhelm you like (former Seahawks linebackers) Bobby Wagner or K.J. Wright or some of those guys that they’ve had.”

Rather than stacking up with Wagner or Wright from a physical standpoint, Bush is more alike to Brooks, Huard said, who is 6-feet tall and 240 pounds and is very fast for the position.

Bush is also like that, having ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine and also recorded a 40-inch vertical leap. That helped Bush go No. 10 overall to Pittsburgh, which traded up to draft him. He was also just 20 years old when he was drafted and doesn’t turn 25 until July.

“Young, just three years at Michigan, a little bit of special teams his first year, over 100 tackles in Year 2, Player of the Year in the conference in Year 3 and then he was out,” Huard said. “Younger than (2023 NFL Draft quarterback prospects) Stetson Bennett (and) Hendon Hooker, which is amazing because he’s got four years in the NFL under his belt.”

So what happened to cause Bush to leave Pittsburgh after four seasons?

“Had a great rookie year where he flashed that speed and that dynamic ability,” Huard said. “Tore his knee in the COVID year (in 2020) and just has not been the same guy (athletically and dynamically) to some degree since that injury. So that is why he was available, that’s why Pittsburgh let one of their young people go – which doesn’t always happen there. I mean, Pittsburgh is a little bit like Seattle in that way that if you’re young and you’re talented, they typically – not always – but they typically want (to keep) those guys and know the value of having your own that have been in your culture and grown and developed in your culture.”

So why did the Seahawks go sign Bush aside from just needing more inside linebackers on the roster?

“They know they want to cover guys up front and they want runners and hitters at the second level. The same same reason that (defensive linemen Dre’Mont Jones and Jarran Reed got signed),” Huard said, later adding, “It just tells you that man, they want violence. They want to run and hit. And they knew all the way along that that front-seven a year ago was largely broken. That’s what they knew.”

Listen to the full second hour of Friday’s Brock and Salk at this link or in the player below.

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