Sizzle, for the record I was one of the very first people on the Irvin bandwagon. This time last year people on this board where asking who the best pass rusher was, almost everyone gave an answer like Ingram or McClellin or Jones or Branch or Upshaw. I might have been the only person who said Irvin was the best pure pass rusher in the draft, and I even said that I didn't even think it was that close. I still thought Irvin would probably go in the 3rd round though, and I hoped and pined very publicly that the Seahawks would find a way to take him in the 3rd round round range. When Seattle took him in round 1, all the Seahawks fans around me groaned, but I was stoked and told everyone around me they would love the pick.
That said, even as one of Irvin's very biggest fans before the draft, even then I knew that he wasn't a LEO. He has to completely sell out vs. the run and even when he does that he's below average. Not only that, but Irvin's pass rush pretty much requires him to sell out the other way, attacking the edge mercilessly without delaying a moment. He's a classic situational rusher. He has the potential to reach Clemons size, but if he did, he would probably lose that extra tenth of a second on his 40 time that makes him special. Even if he was heavier, he does not have good technique and he's not young.
It is very obvious that his future is at the Raheem Brock role, and after watching him the entire falcons game as it happened, I am more convinced of this than ever. It's more than the Falcons game, btw. Irvin has not looked good in a 3 down role all season, the only exception was the 4th quarter of the Skins game, but that has an asterisk on it because Seattle was blitzing on almost every play.
I've been wrong before, but I don't think I'll be wrong here. There is a reason why Pete said "pass rushers" in the plurar form.