Will Josh Bush Factor Into Broncos Safety Position?
There’s plenty of intrigue this offseason at the safety position for the Denver Broncos, and 2014 practice squad player and former New York Jet Josh Bush has a chance to stand out and earn a spot.
Our pal Chad Jensen over at Mile High Huddle projects Bush to be a camp casualty right now, and for good reason. Bush is facing stiff competition from plenty of former John Elway draft picks and free agent pickups, and right now, spots are going to be hard to come by in what I believe to be the most talented and deep secondaries in the NFL.
If Bush wants a spot on this Denver Broncos roster, he’s going to have to fight. But he’s already well on his way.
In 2014, he was let go from the Jets, but he wasn’t a ‘no-name’ pickup for the Broncos late last season when health issues plagued the safety spot. The Broncos had an empty practice squad space, and Bush came in with the expectation that he could fill that spot as well as be an emergency defensive back if need be on game day, and as fate would have it, the Broncos eventually needed him sooner rather than later.
He played in the Broncos’ Monday Night Football loss to the Cincinnati Bengals as well as the regular season finale against the Raiders and the lone playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. He didn’t get a ton of snaps, but other than David Bruton (as Broncos guru Andrew Mason pointed out) no backup safety on this team has more in-season experience than Josh Bush.
The former baseball center fielder hopes to prove he deserves a chance to do the same for the Broncos. In limited action last season, he picked off a duck from Derek Carr and proved his worth as a backup that could come in and give meaningful snaps, even in a blowout of a game.
This is a multi-talented athlete who also produces music, apparently with Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart. Will training camp this year be his swan song in Denver, or will it be only the beginning?
With some uncertainty at the backup positions (meaning Omar Bolden and Josh Furman are his primary competitors for a roster spot) Bush might actually be in really good position to win a job in Denver, considering Furman would probably sneak onto the practice squad unless he bursts onto the scene this pre-season.
We’ll be excited to see how Bush has developed this offseason. He’s still a young player who can play multiple positions, and if he excels on special teams, he just might carve out a nice role in Denver yet this season.