scutterhawk":2zgbrioz said:
NFL_Football2013":2zgbrioz said:
FlyingGreg":2zgbrioz said:
I say, "why not"? The signings of Avril and Bennett gives us the flexibility to do some creative things.
My biggest concern with Irvin at the Sam is teams running the ball right at him.
...this
they ran at him as a DE, if they run at him as an OLB, he wont be able to set the edge and bye bye
You know I would actually wait until the new look Bruce Irvin takes the field in 2013 before making any assumptions on his play last year where he wasn’t really asked to be a bonafide run-defender until that last game vs the Falcons.
1. Irvin put on about 7-12 pounds on his playing weight from 2012. Irvin looked undersized and lean coming in, now, he looks much stouter. At SAM, he is our biggest LBer by at least 9-14 pounds (K.J. Wright, 246. Bobby Wagner , 241. Craig Wilkins, 238. Every other LBer is "listed" under 235 pounds)
2. Irvin is pretty strong, even though his bench press isn't really a necessary lift, its a comparable one. Irvin had 23 reps, to put that in perspective, recently drafted LBers: Toomer had 20, Wagner had 24, and Wright had 20. Clemons had 18, 9 years ago.
The thing though is coming in last year Irvin didn't look strong, his arms were muscular but thin, heading into this season they look like they doubled in size.
What bothers me mostly is Irvin's seeming lack of lower body strength compared to some of our other players, hopefully, he didn't just invest his off-season time developing just his upper body. To hold up the point attack I would say lower body strength is more necessary than upper body. But his lower body strength is about on par with Wright and entry level Hill, and Clemons. Wagner is elite in this aspect scoring a 11 foot Broad Jump and a 39.5 Vert. A big reason why Wags was one of the best vs the run last season.
But to end my point, Bruce Irvin has undergone sort of a big transformation compared to where he was and what he looked like from last season. In 2013, he looks to be a much stronger, much stouter, and a much more capable defender from a physical aspect. And he has 2 more months to get even bigger, stronger, or just adapt to his new playing size . True, he has a lot to learn about instincts and coverage responsibility but I don’t think we can sit here and say he’ll underperform from a physical standpoint until we see him actually play SAM and see how well he does.
To go away a little from the quoted point:
3. I don't really read much into this move. We knew it was happening months ago. In order for Irvin to become a complete LEO, he needs to play with a LBer's mentality. I also believed this plan for development for Irvin was decided since he was drafted or even perhaps before he was drafted. It correlates well with the deals they gave Clemons, and the deal they gave Avril. Both contracts end after Irvin’s 3rd Season, which in my projection of Irvin’s development is about the time I expect him to become a more complete LEO.
Year 1, learn to be a pass-rusher at the NFL level, work on pass-rush repertoire.
Year 2, learn LBer skills + instincts: defend the point of attack, tackling, coverage responsibilities while continuing to develop his pass-rush abilities.
Year 3, put the knowledge of year 1 and year 2 together, and learn to become a viable defender at the LEO position.
Year 4, take over the LEO position long-term with 3 ½ years of training, coaching, and experience under his belt trending him towards being a more complete player.
But really everything I said really is just speculation on my part. Hopefully, not too many people will strongly disagree like they have when I take a stance especially on this particular player. I just really have high hopes for Irvin, and feel if he can put in the hard work on the field, off the field, and in the classroom he can develop one day into truly elite player for the Seahawks as a LEO prospect and if not, he’ll at least be a terrorizing pass-rusher.