LKelley67

The Reggie/Deuce combo looks all the more viable and dangerous as I consider them in the same backfield-

2005
Bush 200 carries 1740 yds(!!) in 13 games
White 197 carries 1302 yds
Total 397 carries 3042 yds

projection to 16 games-
Bush 246 for 2140
White 242 for 1601
Total 488 for 3742

8 teams in the NFL last year had over 500 carries (NO 423). So, two runners with 200 carries is well within reason.

The most notable tandems of RBs were (number of carries)-
Denver, Anderson 239, Bell 173
Pittsburgh, Parker 255, Bettis 110
Jacksonville, Taylor 194, Jones 151
Dallas, Jones 257, Barber 138
Carolina, Foster 205, Davis 180
Baltimore, Lewis 269, Taylor 117
Miami, Brown 207, Williams 168

Miami might be the best example of pure talent management and less the result of injuries than some other teams. Anderson/Bell and Bettis/Parker are good examples of using a heavy hitter along with a more scatback type of runner.

In the wayback machine I looked at the Thunder and Lightning duo of Muncie and Galbreath. They had some great stats, Deuce n Bush like their '79 stats would be impressive. Check these out ('76-77 are 14 games):

the stats are carries, yds, ypc, catches, M for Muncie, G for Galbreath
1976
M 149 659 4.4 31
G 136 570 4.2 54
1977
M 201 811 4.0 21
G 168 644 3.8 41
1978
M 160 557 3.5 26 injured Strachan in the same role had 108 388 3.6 10
G 186 635 3.4 74
1979
M 238 1198 5.0 40
G 189 709 3.7 58

If Deuce can revert back to 2002-2004 form and average over 4 yds a carry the duo back plan might be like none ever seen before. Let's just project 200 touches coming back from the injury. That's 800+ yds. He averaged 50 catches for 6-7 yds in those years too. 40-50 with Bush onboard would be quite story.

I'm not going to try and predict Bush's performance. A lot of those NCAA numbers were against Pac 10 weaklings. He did do well against the best defenses he faced though- Notre Dame: 15 for 160yds, 4 catches for 35yds, Texas: 13 for 82yds, 6 catches for 95yds.

I'm no Kiper fan but one statement about Bush he said that is noteworthy- Bush would have been a first round pick if he was a receiver only and never ran the ball out of the backfield. A lot has been said about his size. I won't review the physical dimensions of Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and Walter Payton all smaller than him. I will say at 6-0 and 200lbs he probably has better hands than another speedster we have that plays in the slot, who is the same exact size, and that is rumored to be on the trading block.

With a Pro Bowl QB and the above dynamic duo though we should see a significant improvement over the 31st ranked scoring team of 2005 (14.7 per game). Let's just hope there is at least the elimination of the run-at-will defensive schemes. Otherwise, it might also be similar to that 8-8 1979 season. Sheesh, after last year that sounds pretty damn good right now.