2019 NFL Draft: Top 5 Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – APRIL 25: Devin Bush of Michigan poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen #10 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft on April 25, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

5. Devin Bush, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

There were two big names at inside linebacker in this draft in Devin White and Devin Bush. Outside of the two Devin’s, there was very little chance any linebackers (who weren’t considered 3-4 edge rushers) were going to hear their name on Thursday night. As for White and Bush, they went fifth and 10th respectively.

White was the better prospect of the two but we already looked at why he may not win the award this season. As for Bush, he enters the perfect situation to not only succeed but to have a lot of eyes on him as he does so.

The Steelers just missed the postseason in 2018, but they should be in the mix yet again this year. They hope that eliminating some of the distractions they had with Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown will help them out, but the addition of Bush could also have a major impact.

Ever since losing Ryan Shazier to a spinal cord injury in 2017, Pittsburgh’s inside linebackers haven’t been as effective. In an effort to fix this, they gave the Denver Broncos their first and second round selections in 2019 as well as a third-round pick in 2020. Moving all the way from pick 20 to 10 was costly, but Pittsburgh thinks he’s the missing link on a defense that ranked top-10 in all the yardage categories last year but was 17th in points scored.

Should Bush be the player that gets them back into the elite category on defense, there’s a great chance that he could be rewarded by voters at the end of the season for his work.

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