Saints Offensive Tackle Jermon Bushrod Emerges as a General Manager's Dream
 

Jermon Bushrod is the kind of guy GMs build a reputation with. Take an unheralded guy in the fourth round of the draft, a guy from a little school, and that guy from the little school means something big to the team in three years.

That's Bushrod. He is the Saints left tackle, the blind-side wall for the Saints' most important player, quarterback Drew Brees. Bushrod attended Towson in the Baltimore area. He is from a small community along the shore in Virginia. He was on plenty of draft boards, I'm sure, in April 2007, but he was no guarantee.

Now look at him. Bushrod stepped in as a first-time starter in 2009 and played right through the Super Bowl.

The Saints signed him in the spring to a $1.7 million contract in what could have been a walk year for him right to his hometown team, the Washington Redskins.

The great thing about some of these guys from the small towns and the small schools is that they do not get as complacent as the guys from the big schools. They have been told they are not good enough and they believe some of it and keep working hard to be good enough.

"I don't really like to try to get comfortable in this whole situation, truthfully," Bushrod told the Associated Press this week.

Bushrod told the AP about his lapse in 2009 when the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware abused Brees with two sacks and hit the quarterback three times.

"You just got to continue to fight to stay hungry and ... continue just to get better on a day-to-day basis," Bushrod said.

Bushrod is 6-foot-4, 325 pounds. He seems to have solved his habit of standing too tall to block and getting pushed back with a center balance. He lost his job briefly last season, but came flying back to help hold Vikings supreme pass rusher Jared Allen without a sack in the NFC title game last January.

Fun Bushrod Fact: Bushrod, by the way, is from King George County, Va. James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution, is from King George County.
Saints Offensive Tackle Jermon Bushrod Emerges as a General Manager's Dream -- NFL FanHouse

Brown who?

The Saints brass make some GOOOOD moves. It can't be ONLY luck - there has to be some good scouting & good research going on.

Great story. Great read !!!

"I don't really like to try to get comfortable in this whole situation, truthfully," Bushrod told the Associated Press this week.

Bushrod told the AP about his lapse in 2009 when the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware abused Brees with two sacks and hit the quarterback three times.

"You just got to continue to fight to stay hungry and ... continue just to get better on a day-to-day basis," Bushrod said.

Bushrod plays a tough position, on lapse in judgment and your QB is writhing on the ground. I hope he continues to work hard, because it gets harder each week.

You got that right...i worry every snap...i tell ya one thing that helps him.. is that Drew steps up in the pocket better than any QB playin..that helps the whole line as well...

Fortunately Drew doesn't generally need a lot of time in the pocket. He does have excellent pocket presence and seems to know when to get rid of the ball. Bushrod appears to have developed nicely since the start of last year when he was thrown into the starting line up. Payton doesn't seem to be throwing as much help his way this year. Brown is hopefully going to pan out well too.

Bushrod did very well against the Mullet Man two games in a row. He looks a lot better than he did against DeMarcus Ware toward the end of last season.

Even in the Super Bowl, against Dwight Freeney, except for that one big sack, he was fine (of course, Freeney was hurting).

Lets keep our fingers crossed that Saints management knows what they are doing (I personally am willing to give them the benefit of any doubt).

exactly- I said that last year when Brees was praising the O-line when they won that Madden award. He won it for them with good reads and quick releases.

Bushrod was great against Allen, with very little help, but did have a call or two against him

The bit about bushrod standing too tall whilst blocking last year has definitely improved, it was noticeable last year as pass rushers would hit him square and knock him of balance. Seems as though bushrod has reworked his stance, and given himself a wider base for more balance. I love how he's staying humble, that's a real big part of the team bushrod, every stays humble here and knows it's all a team effort!!

Yep thats Alex Barrons problem in Dallas...i watched that game and it was real obvious...you gotta get low and set your feet..thats why St louis gave up on him...they saw he was never going to get it..i think a lot of that is coaching..and we have good coaches..and Bushrod is paying attention...:bng:

I wasn't quite sold on Bushrod a while back, but I've been really impressed by him.

BUSHROD was a diamond in the rough. Man took his lumps and hung in there until he got it right. No backing down from dude.