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Miami Player Profile: Deon Bush

In an effort to keep even the most hardcore Miami fan up to date on their favorite players, SOTU will be running a Player Profile series. In these posts, our writers will profile two players from each position that they think should get more face time. They will recap their previous year, or in some cases, preview what may be to come. That way, when the season get's here, you hopefully will have a new found love for the team on the field.

By Jerry Steinberg
Mike Ehrmann

Deon Bush

Junior - Safety -6'1 203 - Miami, Fl

After a promising freshman campaign in which he produced 34 tackles and 3 forced fumbles on his way to earning second team Freshman All-American honors, Bush has a not so spectacular sophomore season.

He did pick up 2 sacks, an INT, and 31 tackles,but much more was expected from the former 4 star recruit from Colombus H.S.

So what happened?

Well for starters Bush never did quite get into rhythm last summer, set back by offseason hernia surgery.

But more importantly, he was dealing with personal tragedy in the news that his father Gary Bush Sr. was diagnosed with cancer.

So while his play was not necessarily awful,  it is understandable and forgivable that he did not dominant as expected his second season in Coral Gables.

Last season, Bush like most of his teammates, was not exactly a sure thing making tackles in the open field.

Expect a big time bounce back this year!

DB has the size, instincts, and athleticism to be a big time safety and the enforcer that this defense needs on the back end.

If he isn't healthy or can not regain his form, UM would be forced to press the development of freshman Kiy Hester and/or give more playing time to converted RB Dallas Crawford.  Let's not forget that Jamal Carter is also coming on strong.  So while Bush has the potential to be "the man" at S for the Hurricanes, his margin for error is slim.

Summary: Everyone saw what a big time player this kid was as a freshman.  So last season's sub par play would appear to have been an explainable aberration.  Look for Bush to get back to his nasty, hard hitting self in run support and pick off 2-3 passes this year.  An All-ACC season would not be out of the question either.

Stay tuned for more player profiles as we count down to Labor Day Vs Louisville.