What to do with Irvin

[Renohawk]

Well, it's obvious through the years play, outside of his 8 sacks, he's just too small to play line. He need to get on a plan to put on a good 20 lbs, so he's pushing 265-270, and he should still have plenty of speed. It was wierd watching him in his first start, slow off the ball, seemed the ball was hiked, and he was still at the line trying to figure out what to do. Not saying it's a bust pick, but needs to improve.

 

[zayden185]

Negative...there was a lot of attention to him with chips and i think part of the plan looked like some zone blitzing as well. vacating his area to drop, he didnt get much pressure that is true but we had 2 pass rushers the entire year.

i would like to see him as a stand up OLB on pass downs, fast enough to cover and get 2 off of one side, opposite Clemons, but now with him out we need another on the other side......ssssssoooooooooo

 

[The Grouch]

Seems to me he needs to dig deep in the offseason... I like the guy, but he needs to step it up. It was obvious all game long that he was out of his depth as an every down end. Thankfully we don't have many needs going into the draft...

 

[Zowert]

He will get better. He's a rookie. Earl Thomas was kinda the same way his rookie season, even though he played well most of the time, he still looked like he was adjusting to the speed of the NFL. Now Earl is (in my opinion) the best free safety in the league with an exception for Ed Reed of course.

 

[onanygivensunday]

What to do with Irvin???, coach him up (develop him) like any team would do with any other 1st round draft pick... or any other draft pick that makes the 53-man roster.

 

[grizbob]

Kinda looked like Atlanta game planned him

 

[seahawks08]

He definitely needs to build 20 more pounds of lean muscle. I am sure that is what he will do

 

[Barthawk]

He led all rookies with sacks.. he had twice as many sacks/pressures as a rookie than Mario Williams did as a rookie.. future is bright and he will get better..

 

[Schadie001]

I think the question should be what to do on the interior rather than what to do with Irvin. With Jones in Irvin and Clem for that matter were getting sacks. Jones goes down and we pretty much couldn't sack anyone.

 

[CANHawk]

I think the question should be what to do on the interior rather than what to do with Irvin. With Jones in Irvin and Clem for that matter were getting sacks. Jones goes down and we pretty much couldn't sack anyone.

Yep. That 3tech that can get into the backfield is the biggest shortcoming of our defense right now. When tampa used to rush the passer with only 4 down linemen,the two biggest producers of sacks were Simeon Rice off the edge and Warren Sapp from the 3tech. We have two guys who can get there from the edge, but need the guy who can get there from the interior. Maybe that can be Scruggs, but I dunno...

 

[ImTheScientist]

Chris Clemons is 254. Irvin is going to grow to be dominant. I would have liked to see him get 10 sacks this year but 8 in a part time role is fantastic. He is highly athletic and if he can come in 10lbs heavier he will be at Clem's weight. 10lbs is nothing.....he is still learning the position.

Give him time, he will be great. Look at Golden Tate for example. JS & PC know talent and they know what they are doing.

 

[hawker84]

i don't know man, 245lbs is too damn small to play line, unless you have great technique and good spin and swim moves like clems... all i've seen so far is an unsuccessful bull rush, and the unsuccessful speed past the QB move,.... i don't know just seems like a quality O lineman can handle him without much trouble at this point..

 

[scifly]

Easy. You give him Leroy Hills spot. Size and 4.4 spd at olb, blitzing, covering the RB and TE and blowing up screen passes. The next Clay Matthews in the making.

 

[kearly]

Clemons does not play like he's 254 pounds. He has terrific technique and disciple against the run, and has more strength than you would expect for a person of his build. Irvin doesn't have any of those gifts, and he's 10 pounds lighter too. Any kind of play action / read option situation is going to kill Irvin, because he has to completely sell out to stop the run, and if it's a fake run, he's not giving us any pass rush while the QB stands in the pocket all day.

And do we really want Irvin bulking up? He probably wouldn't run a 4.4 at 260.

I say keep him as a specialist and enjoy his 8+ sacks every year. That's more than enough to justify his draft cost. If the team insists on keeping Irvin at LEO, then they should at least coach Irvin into selling out for the pass rush and compensate with their back seven somehow for Irvin's liability in the running game.

 

[jkitsune]

Why would you 'do' anything? Let him workout over the offseason, see where he fits next year, and go from there.

Or you can take the irrational .NET approach, and give up on him after his rookie year like Max Unger.

Or give up on him in his second year like Russell Okung and Golden Tate.

It can take time for rookies to develop into effective players. Irvin will be fine.

 

[Showmeyourtd's]

Irvin needs to watch other De's off season, maybe a dwigh freeney.. a spin move would help. Dude bull rushes or tries to speed rush around the edge..

 

[Bipolar]

Bruce Irvin is the poor man's version of Von Miller. He has all the speed in the world, but lacks technique, as he gets consistently chewed up by good quality O-linemen.

therefore:

1) bulk up! another 10-15 lbs to add to his frame won't hurt. you can't bull rush in NFL or stop the run using speed alone.
2) work on the technique drills during offseason.
3) mature and learn from his mistakes.

that said, I do believe he has a really bright future and I am excited he is on our team.

 

[kearly]

Why would you 'do' anything? Let him workout over the offseason, see where he fits next year, and go from there.

Or you can take the irrational .NET approach, and give up on him after his rookie year like Max Unger.

Or give up on him in his second year like Russell Okung and Golden Tate.

It can take time for rookies to develop into effective players. Irvin will be fine.

Sage wisdom.

That said, if teams thought Irvin could be a 3 down player, he wouldn't have reached the 15th pick. At least Tate and Unger always had the tools they needed to grow. Irvin is nothing but pure speed. He is a classic example of a situational player. I liked the pick, gave it an "A+" in my draft grades. But I've always seen him as a specialist. For him to become an every down player would require a revelatory transformation. Irvin is 26 next season. He doesn't have a ton of years left, so wasting a few seasons trying to turn him into something he's not is no small sacrifice.

:twocents:

 

[pehawk]

I'm not an X and O guy, so excuse my ignorance here. But, doesn't Irvin seem better suited for a 3-4 scheme, standing up on passing downs? He seems like a Capers type 3-4 OLB.

I dont think he has the toolbox to ever be an OLB. Or?

 

[twisted_steel2]

When I watch him it looks like he has all the physical tools in the world, he just needs polish, needs to be coached up. So many techniques to learn.

All that is teachable, he has the ability and the instincts, just needs the coaching. And we all knew that from the beginning. A project with huge upside.