Prospect vs. Freshman: Burns and Bush

Peter Ariz
Peter Ariz
3 min read
Here is a breakdown between Miami Northwestern 2013 DB Artie Burns and Miami Freshman Deon Bush

Size: Even
From a size standpoint these two are nearly identical. Burns is at 6'1, 180 and Bush is 6'1 at around 190. Those 10 pounds advantage he has on Burns were added from the end of his senior season to now. Both have prototypical size to be bigger CBs. Both have long arms as well.*

Speed: Burns
Artie would beat almost anybody in the category. He is the top hurdler in the nation and will run at Miami. Bush has great speed too, he has run in the mid 4.4 range. At this point in the compariso, there isn't much separating the two.*

Coverage Skills: Bush
There aren't many prospects from last year's class that match Deon's man-to-man skills. His jam at the line is special and is physical with the opposing receiver. Burns hasn't played much press coverage at MNW, so it remains to be seen how good he can be at it. My guess is that he will be exceptional.

Run Support: Burns
Burns is aggressive in run support. Once he reads that it is a run play, he wastes no time and tracks down the ball carrier. Bush is very capable in this aspect, but some have questioned his open-field tackling.

Ball Skills: Burns
Neither are spectacular here, but I'll give Burns the slight edge.*

Versatility: Bush
This is another category that it is tough to distinguish the two in. Both have played corner and safety at the high school level and project to have the ability to play both in college. I think that Deon is a better corner than Artie right now, but on the same token, both are raw at safety and need some more experience.

Upside: Burns
A lot of this one depends on which position they play, but I think Burns has a very slight edge here mostly because of his elite speed/size combo. Deon isn't far behind here.*

Bottom Line
Both of them will probably end up playing out of position at Miami due to lack of depth at safety, as I think both could be absolutely special as bigger corners. This is not to say they can't be great at safety either though. They obviously have superior athletic ability and have the football IQ to be able to make the transition to the college level. Almost all of these categories could have gone either way.

Bush Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PvOpF50gk

Burns Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gftY-pMBox8&feature=player_embedded
 

Comments (15)

Burns is better then bush at Safety tho on his tape hes has a couple of nice hits. Bush cuts legs
 
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Wish we could start them both at CB where they belong.

I agree, but the coaches are smart enough to realize that if it doesn't work out at safety, they can always play corner

I don't doubt that at all, just sucks for a new coaching staff to have to fill holes by playing guys out of position. Same thing will likely happen to R. Jenkins who wants to play WR but will likely play S because we have no ******* depth.
 
The depth and talent at S is atrocious. Why is Dallas Crawford still on offense? This team needs a playmaker at the S position. If playing S gets Bush early burn then I'm all for it. His skills are a welcome and needed addition in def backfield.
 
The depth and talent at S is atrocious. Why is Dallas Crawford still on offense? This team needs a playmaker at the S position. If playing S gets Bush early burn then I'm all for it. His skills are a welcome and needed addition in def backfield.

Depth at RB sucks too after this year.

2013 we have Clements, Duke, Dallas, and Hagans. That's only 3 RBs and 1 FB. Hopefully Dillard qualifies and Collins enrolls, which should give us 5 + 1. We should have 5 healthy RBs at all times, since 2-3 usually rotate and you have a couple extra in case of ACLs and other injuries.

But yes, i totally agree with you - safety depth truly is atrocious.
 
The depth and talent at S is atrocious. Why is Dallas Crawford still on offense? This team needs a playmaker at the S position. If playing S gets Bush early burn then I'm all for it. His skills are a welcome and needed addition in def backfield.

Depth at RB sucks too after this year.

2013 we have Clements, Duke, Dallas, and Hagans. That's only 3 RBs and 1 FB. Hopefully Dillard qualifies and Collins enrolls, which should give us 5 + 1. We should have 5 healthy RBs at all times, since 2-3 usually rotate and you have a couple extra in case of ACLs and other injuries.

But yes, i totally agree with you - safety depth truly is atrocious.

Agree with all of this. Hopefully Golden and co. can get things back on track so we can start bringing in more balanced classes.
 
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The depth and talent at S is atrocious. Why is Dallas Crawford still on offense? This team needs a playmaker at the S position. If playing S gets Bush early burn then I'm all for it. His skills are a welcome and needed addition in def backfield.

Do we need another safety who runs a 4.7?

I originally wanted him on defense as well because we need a ballhawk back there. But from what I heard, he had a lot more success on offense than defense on scout team. His physical skill set (smart, stout, quicker than fast) certainly seems best suited for a slot receiver/third-down back role.
 
I know the coaches are real high on Kacy Rodgers. I for one though, still have that mental picture of him in the FSU game having a brain fart or whatever that was on the TD catch to Rodney Smith.
 
freshman crawford should get a good look at safety... he has the speed and range..
 
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I know the coaches are real high on Kacy Rodgers. I for one though, still have that mental picture of him in the FSU game having a brain fart or whatever that was on the TD catch to Rodney Smith.

Yeah I think we all do. I'm putting him in the TBD category to see what he can do this season cuz he has improved. Unfortunately I'm not holding out hope that he will be a factor at S.
 
Man it sucks that both Bush and Burns have to start out at safety and maybe spend their career here at that position... I see both of them as better CB prospects than safety. I also view them as almost eerily similar prospects, both great athletes that will probably be forced to play at a position where they aren't most comfortable and have a lower ceiling because of the abyssal lack of depth left by our ol'Corch.
 
Nights says shannon left us stacked. Why cant Golden and Co get it together and stop playing musical chairs with our tremendous talent?
 
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