PITTSBURGH — Though he was still 20 years old at the time of the draft, Devin Bush was cognizant enough of the extraordinary for them lengths the Pittsburgh Steelers went to acquire him.

“I just want to thank Steelers organization for believing in me and trusting in me,” Bush said while accepting the team’s rookie of the year award Friday, “and obviously in doing such unusual things to get me.”

The “unusual things” Bush referred to were trading up to select among the top 10 of the draft for the first time since 2000. They dealt second- and third-round picks to the Denver Broncos to move up from No. 20 to take the speedy inside linebacker.

The Steelers hadn’t traded up that many spots in the first round since they targeted Troy Polamalu in 2003.

The early returns have been solid through 15 games. Bush already has the most tackles (97) by a Steelers rookie.