Inside the Numbers: Part II

span style=”" span style=”font-style: italic; “In the weeks leading up to the start of the New Orleans Saints’ 2009 training camp, NewOrleansSaints.com will take an inside look at some interesting facts and figures of various high-profile players on the Saints’ roster. This is part two in the series./span br style=”" / br style=”" / span style=”font-weight: bold; “RUNNING BACK/PUNT RETURNER a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Reggie%20Bush.aspx”REGGIE BUSH/a/span br style=”" / span style=”font-weight: bold; “Height:/span 6-0br style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “Weight: /span203br style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “NFL Experience in 2009/span: 4th Seasonbr style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “Years with Saints:/span 4th Seasonbr style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “College:/span Southern Californiabr style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; “br /SAINTSATIONAL NOTES:/spanbr style=”" /br style=”" //span ul li span style=”"RB/PR a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Reggie%20Bush.aspx”Reggie Bush/a has needed little time to establish himself as one of the NFL’s most versatile and exciting players. In his career, the second pick overall in the 2006 NFL Draft has posted 3,647 all-purpose yards (1,550 rushing, 1,599 receiving and 498 on punt returns). Bush has also found the end zone 24 times over the course of three seasons, with 12 of the scores coming via rushing touchdowns; eight on receptions and four on punt returns./span /li li span style=”"In 2008, Bush played an important role in the Saints offense with 106 rushes for 404 yards and two touchdowns, 52 receptions for 440 yards and four touchdowns, which tied for the third highest total of scoring by a running back, despite playing in only 10 games. Bush also had 20 punt returns for 270 yards, ranking second in the NFL in punt return average (13.5 per return) and three touchdowns./span /li li span style=”"Despite missing six games and half of another with a knee injury, Bush ranked among the NFL leaders in several categories, including touchdowns, receptions and first downs, as well as all punt return categories./span/li/ulbr /ullispan style=”font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; “a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Reggie%20Bush.aspx”REGGIE BUSH/a SINGLE-GAME SUPERLATIVES/span br style=”" / /li /ulspan style=”"/span ul li span style=”"Rushing Attempts: 21, vs. Carolina (10/7/2007)/span /li li span style=”"Rushing Yardage: 126, at NY Giants (12/24/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Longest Rush: 43, vs. Atlanta (12/7/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Longest Touchdown Run: 23, at Denver (9/21/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Rushing TDs: 3, vs. San Francisco (12/3/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Receptions: 12, at Houston (11/18/2007)/span /li li span style=”"Receiving Yards: 74, vs. San Francisco (12/3/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Long Reception: 61, at Dallas (12/10/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Receiving TDs: 1 (8 times), last vs. Atlanta (12/7/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Yards from Scrimmage: 168, vs. San Francisco (12/3/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Punt Returns: 5, vs. Minnesota (10/6/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Longest Punt Return: 71t, vs. Minnesota (10/6/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Punt Return TDs: 2, vs. Minnesota (10/6/2008)/span /li li span style=”"Scoring: 24 points, vs. San Francisco (12/3/2006)/span /li li span style=”"Total Touchdowns: 4, vs. San Francisco (12/3/2006) /span /li /ul span style=”" br style=”" / span style=”font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; “a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Reggie%20Bush.aspx”REGGIE BUSH/a … BY THE NUMBERS/span br style=”" / span style=”font-weight: bold; “213 … /spanReceptions in his first 38 NFL regular season games. Since the start of the 2006, no other running back has as many receptions.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/spandivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “24 … /spanTouchdowns for Bush in his career, tied for 11th in the team’s all-time record books.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “1,599 … /spanYards receiving by Bush in his career through 38 games. It marks the second-highest total among running backs over that span, trailing only Philadelphia Eagles RB Brian Westbrook, who has 1,787 since the start of the 2006 season.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “1,700 … /spanYards of offense for Bush in the 18 games since taking over as the full-time starter at running back in 2007.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “13 .. /spanBush ranks 13th in club history in rushing with 1,550 yards on 418 carries, with 12 touchdowns. Next on the list is RB Craig “Ironhead” Heyward (1988-1992), who has 1,813 yards on 432 carries.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “131 … /spanReceiving yards against San Francisco in his rookie season (12/3/2006), the most by a running back in franchise history.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “12 … /spanBush became just the 12th player in NFL history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game when he returned a pair against the Minnesota Vikings (10/6/2008).span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “176 … /spanPunt return yardage against the Minnesota Vikings (10/6/2008), setting a club-record as he averaged 35.2 yards on five returns.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “4 … /spanTouchdowns for Bush against San Francisco (12/3/2006), tying a club single-game record for touchdowns in a contest. Bush also had three touchdown rushes against the 49ers – also tying a club-record – and a scoring catch.span style=”font-weight: bold; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “10 … /spanBush is currently ranked 10th all-time in receptions in club history, having recorded 213 career grabs in only 38 games. Bush trails teammate a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Marques%20Colston.aspx”Marques Colston/a (9th all-time with 215 receptions). span style=”font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; “/span/span/divdivspan style=”font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; “br //span/divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; “DID YOU KNOW?/span In 13 games where Bush has combined rushing and receiving totals of over 100 yards, the Saints own a 9-4 record.br /
table
tbody
tr
tdspan style=”font-weight: bold; “TOTAL   /spanbr //td
tdspan style=”font-weight: bold; “RUSH/span         br //td
tdspan style=”font-weight: bold; “REC/span.         br //td
td style=”font-weight: bold; “OPP.                 br //td
td style=”font-weight: bold; “DATE/td/tr
tr
td168/td
td37 (10)br //td
td131 (9)br //td
tdvs. SF (W) br //td
td12/3/06 br //td/tr
tr
td163/td
td51 (14) br //td
td112 (8) br //td
tdvs. TB (W) br //td
td9/7/08 br //td/tr
tr
td162 br //td
td37 (6) br //td
td125 (6) br //td
tdat DAL (W) br //td
td12/10/06 br //td/tr
tr
td149 br //td
td126 (20)br //td
td23 (2) br //td
tdat NYG (W) br //td
td12/24/06 br //td/tr
tr
td148/td
td73 (18) br //td
td75 (11) br //td
tdat DEN (L) br //td
td9/21/08 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″141 br //td
td colspan=”1″97 (19) br //td
td colspan=”1″44 (6) br //td
td colspan=”1″at SEA (W)br //td
td colspan=”1″10/14/07 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″119 br //td
td colspan=”1″67 (21) br //td
td colspan=”1″52 (9) br //td
td colspan=”1″vs. CAR (L) br //td
td colspan=”1″10/7/07 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″119 br //td
td colspan=”1″67 (15) br //td
td colspan=”1″52 (7) br //td
td colspan=”1″at CLE (W) br //td
td colspan=”1″9/10/06 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″115/td
td colspan=”1″72 (17) br //td
td colspan=”1″43 (7) br //td
td colspan=”1″vs. JAX (W) br //td
td colspan=”1″11/4/07 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″113 br //td
td colspan=”1″64 (10) br //td
td colspan=”1″49 (7) br //td
td colspan=”1″at SF (W) br //td
td colspan=”1″10/28/07 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″109 br //td
td colspan=”1″51 (13) br //td
td colspan=”1″58 (8) br //td
td colspan=”1″vs. CIN (L) br //td
td colspan=”1″11/19/08 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″106 br //td
td colspan=”1″80 (10) br //td
td colspan=”1″26 (3) br //td
td colspan=”1″vs. ATL (W) br //td
td colspan=”1″12/7/08 br //td/tr
tr
td colspan=”1″104 br //td
td colspan=”1″34 (15) br //td
td colspan=”1″70 (12) br //td
td colspan=”1″at HOU (L) br //td
td colspan=”1″11/18/07 br //td/tr/tbody/tablebr style=”" /br style=”" /a style=”font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; ” href=”/Team/Roster/People/Reggie%20Bush.aspx”REGGIE BUSH/aspan style=”font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; ” … 2008 HIGHLIGHTS/spanbr style=”" /br style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “October 6: vs. Minnesota Vikings/span – On the primetime stage of Monday Night Football, Bush became just the 12th player in NFL history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game with runbacks of 71 and 64 yards. His 176 punt return yards set a franchise record.span style=”font-style: italic; “br style=”" //spanbr style=”font-weight: bold; ” /span style=”font-weight: bold; “September 21: at Denver Broncos/span – Bush ran his consecutive scoring streak to three games, notching his fourth career multiple touchdown game as he led the team with 73 yards on 18 carries with a 23-yard touchdown jaunt while also scoring on a six-yard reception among his team-high 11 catches for 75 yards.br style=”" /br style=”" /span style=”font-weight: bold; “September 14: at Washington Redskins/span – Bush fielded a punt from Durant Brooks at his own 45-yard line and took a step to the right before backtracking to the left sideline and racing 55 yards to the end zone untouched for his second career punt return touchdown.br style=”" //span/divdivbr //divdivspan style=”"span style=”font-weight: bold; “September 7: vs. Tampa Bay – /spanspan style=”"Starting his /span/spanspan style=”"first season as the Saints’ primary runner, Bush capped the 24-20 Opening Day victory with an electrifying 42-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. He caught a swing pass in the flat from a href=”/Team/Roster/People/Drew%20Brees.aspx”span style=”text-decoration: none; “Drew Brees/span/a and sprinted through the Tampa Bay defense, diving for the pylon in the corner of the end zone. His 112-yard, eight-reception performance accented his 51 rushing yards, including a career-long 26-yard dash.br style=”" //spanbr //div