Breaking Down the Chicago Bears Fourth Round Pick: Miami Safety - Deon Bush

The NFL Draft has come and gone, and it appears that the Bears have a plan in place. Did I agree with that plan at every twist and turn? No, not really, but I also really enjoyed some of their moves so it all balances out. And they were active, and that definitely made for an exciting weekend. But what's done is done. The picks I like will obviously work out, and hopefully my genius fails me on the picks that I didn't like. So far, I have had the chance to break down:

First Round Pick: Leonard Floyd, Linebacker, Georgia
Second Round Pick: Cody Whitehair, Offensive Guard, Kansas State
Third Round Pick: Jonathan Bullard, Defensive Lineman, Florida
Fourth Round Pick: Nick Kwiatkoski, Linebacker, West Virginia

And today, we take a look at the Bears second fourth-round pick, Deon Bush, a safety out of Miami. As you probably could have guessed from a fourth round safety, he's not some incredible athlete that set the combine on fire. He is nothing special athletically, but doesn't look to be a liability either. Safety is always a tough position to evaluate, as they aren't even on camera half the time from the normal television feed. Luckily, the good people over at Draft Breakdown had the tape from his games against Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Nebraska.

One of Bush's strengths as a safety is that he can come up and make a hit when necessary. There were a few examples where he worked through blocks to impact a running play. This was one where he took the easy way out and just avoided the fullback and took down the quarterback on this failed sweep attempt.

More importantly, he'll lay the wood on a receiver going over the middle.

If that isn't Tyler Boyd going across the middle, that's probably going to be an incomplete pass.

And here's an example of that.

As you can see, for a less talented (white) receiver, they aren't able to hold onto the ball, as he does a very good job of breaking downfield on the receiver and knocking the ball loose.

Maybe the most impressive aspect of Bush is that he clearly has Jesus Christ himself doing him favors.

You can work hard as a safety to make great plays, but it always helps to have the Big Guy on your side.

As I stated, safety tape is limited. Still, from what Bush showed in these games, he has the ability to be a successful safety in the NFL. His athleticism isn't great, but his instincts seem to be there. With the Bears lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball, Bush has the ability to come in and start on day one. I don't think there's pro bowls in his future, but even without elite athleticism, I think he has enough instincts to not be a liability in the secondary. Worst case, he's a special teams contributor, which means he is exactly the type of player you're hoping to find in the middle of the draft.