In the spring of 2012, I was only sure about two things when it came to Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin. One, he was super-duper fast and quick off the ball, and two, he was definitely not worth the No. 15 pick in the first round of the draft.
Seahawks finding a place for Bruce Irvin
After a two-sack season, Bruce Irvin has reasserted himself with the Seattle defense for a series of game-changing plays in recent weeks.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Don’t get me wrong, I thought Irvin was a helluva college player at West Virginia, but his technique was lacking. He was, in my mind, a one-trick pony who was stuck if he couldn’t beat his guy with speed. Now, when you can run a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, as Irvin did at the combine, maybe being a one-trick pony ain’t so bad. But you still have to develop some good technique with your hands and footwork to ever be able to play at a high level in the NFL. Some guys pick up the techniques, some guys don’t, but those kind of pass rushers are usually far from a sure thing in the draft. The fact that he was only 245 pounds at the combine was also a major concern.
Here’s where I remind folks that just because you didn’t see a guy as a mid-first-rounder doesn’t mean you thought he was going to suck. I thought Irvin had a ton of potential with his physical gifts and that if he did, in fact, get better with his technique and gained maybe 20 pounds, he could still be all the way legit. I just don’t think you can/should take him or any similar guy that high in the draft if you don’t have some kind of crystal ball to tell you he is going to do all those things for sure.
In Irvin’s rookie season, he just about made me look foolish. He flashed big-time with his speed, did not appear to get overwhelmed by blockers even at his lower weight, and ended the season with eight sacks. I still wasn’t convinced, however, because so many of his plays were basically him just running around people. I’ve seen too much football to believe that with a year’s worth of film on him, offensive linemen were going to continue to let him win with speed and speed only.
Yeah, right. As I figured, last season, Irvin, in limited reps as a pass rusher, saw a lot more offensive linemen jumping him at the line or setting out wide at the snap to force him into a power move or an inside move. I didn’t think he adjusted all that well which is, along with the decreased playing time and having missed four games due to suspension, probably why he only had two sacks all of last season.
The truth is this: Irvin is basically a Sam linebacker, but you don't draft a guy that high who only plays Sam linebacker because they generally come off the field in nickel packages. It's much, much too high for a two-down guy. The reason why you would draft Irvin is because you expect that he wouldn't come off the field on nickel. Instead, he would just go to defensive end and give you a strong pass rush presence off the edge a la rookie first-rounders Khalil Mack and Anthony Barr (who I discussed in different item *shameless plug*). That's why you generally would need more than two sacks from him for the season if you wanted his play to justify him being such a high draft pick. Coming into this season, Irvin wasn't even the starting Sam linebacker the first three games and with the defensive line once again stockpiled with edge rushers, including a rookie fourth-rounder, it didn't appear that he was going to get much of a chance shine at all this year.
Then it seemed Irvin’s fortunes started changing a bit. After injuries, and maybe also because of improved play, Irvin started the Seahawks’ fourth game of the season and has continued to start every game since then. Then the last couple of weeks, he has come on strong and made some really big plays for his team.
I noticed the two sacks Irvin got back-to-back against the Carolina Panthers that effectively ended the game last week, but I couldn't decide what to write about them. Yeah, that's nice and all, but it was still just one game. Hell, not even a whole game, just a nice series because truthfully, Irvin got on my damn nerves jumping offsides twice earlier in the game. Just watch the damn ball, man; it's not that hard! But I digress.
I was definitely impressed by those two sacks, for several reasons. One, it was the crunchiest of crunch time with 38 seconds left in the game and the Seahawks up 13-9. The Panthers had to score a touchdown to win the game, but with Cam Newton's big arm and ability to avoid the rush, it wasn't far-fetched that they could do it. At all. On second-and-15, Irvin exploded off the ball like he was shot out of a cannon, gave a quick head fake inside, then dipped back outside to beat Panthers left tackle Byron Bell around the corner and sack Newton from the side damn near before Newton was done with his drop. This was out of shotgun, mind you. It was fast, bruh!
The second sack was just an example of great effort. Newton rolled away from Irvin, who had to hurdle a running back before he could track the QB down from behind and get him on the ground again. On the next play, the Panthers faced a fourth-and-25 from their own 8-yard line with 26 seconds left in the game and no more timeouts. Like I said earlier, he effectively ended the game.
For an encore this past Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, Irvin didn't get any sacks, but he did pick off rookie quarterback Derek Carr and took it back to the house for six. It was a helluva play, too. Irvin had to jump up high just to tip the pass up in the air, and then he showed great concentration and focus by tracking the football as it came to the ground. He actually had to turn with the football to catch it, and then avoid a tight end, an offensive lineman and Carr on the way to the endzone.
Before his pick-six, the Seahawks were already up 7-3 near the end of the first quarter. His score put a lot of pressure on the Raiders to respond quickly and an effort to keep up.
Turned out the Seahawks’ offense was pretty terrible and out of rhythm for most of the rest of the game, but the team did end up scoring two more touchdowns along with three field goals to post 30 points on the day. The Raiders found a variety of ways to score to finish with 24. Take away Irvin’s pick-six and ... well, you see where I’m going with this.
I’m still not sure how or if Irvin fits on this Seahawks team long-term; there just aren’t enough pass rush reps to go around between him and the regular defensive ends. And if you aren’t going to use Irvin as a pass rusher, exactly how useful is he to your team anyway? After the last two weeks, however, I’m about ready to stop projecting what he will or won’t be in the future and kind of enjoy seeing what he is now. If Irvin can continue his hot streak and make more big plays in the second half of the season, I’m sure the future will take care of itself.
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