Bruce Irvin vs Fletcher Cox

I was hoping Seattle would take FC in the 2012 draft but instead they traded the pick and went for Bruce Irvin. Irvin is a solid linebacker but I can't help but think of what might have been if we had drafted FC.

We did also get Jaye Howard and Jeremy Lane out of the deal.

There will always be guys we would have rather taken than some others. Shame we can only know that in hindsight.

Look at Sherman. Any team would give up their first rounder for the All-pro corner now but back then he slipped all the way to the fifth. Or what about Russ? In hindsight he should've been the #1 pick in the 2012 draft but instead every team passed on him at least 2 times.

Just to say it's all hindsight.

Overseasfan":opjtd625 said:

There will always be guys we would have rather taken than some others. Shame we can only know that in hindsight.

Look at Sherman. Any team would give up their first rounder for the All-pro corner now but back then he slipped all the way to the fifth. Or what about Russ? In hindsight he should've been the #1 pick in the 2012 draft but instead every team passed on him at least 2 times.

Just to say it's all hindsight.

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Good point, but the Seahawks specifically traded back with Philadelphia who drafted Fletcher Cox. We then took Bruce Irvin with the 15th pick.

Considering we got Jaye Howard and Jeremy Lane in the deal, I'd say we did the right thing. We just should've had the foresight to keep Howard.

Erebus":125tr922 said:

Considering we got Jaye Howard and Jeremy Lane in the deal, I'd say we did the right thing. We just should've had the foresight to keep Howard.

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I remember being surprised when they cut Howard. It really felt like a mistake at the time, but the line was so deep that it ended up not mattering that year. Howard could've really helped in 2014 and 2015, though.

At the time I was crushed.

But then in hindsight, if we had drafted Cox, it's extremely likely we don't sign Michael Bennett in 2013. At that time, we were running with Clemons and Bryant at ends and Bennett was signed to be our interior 3T. With Cox, we're not in that market.

So ultimately, I'd say it worked out well for us in the end.

Lots of what ifs, like what if the Harvin trade never happened and they drafted Hopkins and spent the money saved on the o-line, or kept Tate.

Fletcher Cox is a 3 down force. I wanted him so bad.

One thing you can say about Cox, if Seattle had drafted him, they would be exercising the 5th year option, unlike with Irvin.

It wasn't long ago that a disruptive interior DL was one of the rarest commodities in the game. Now there are so many of them, it's almost as if every DT with good tape in college is getting it done in the NFL these days.

The sad thing is, Jaye Howard turned into a pretty good all-around DT, a fringe pro-bowler. If only they had held on to him, they would have looked like geniuses for moving down. Irvin, Howard, and Lane > Cox.

Then again, maybe Howard ends up back here anyway. The Chiefs have a zillion free agents and Howard might be the odd man out.

kearly":6912xlrg said:

It wasn't long ago that a disruptive interior DL was one of the rarest commodities in the game. Now there are so many of them, it's almost as if every DT with good tape in college is getting it done in the NFL these days.

The sad thing is, Jaye Howard turned into a pretty good all-around DT, a fringe pro-bowler. If only they had held on to him, they would have looked like geniuses for moving down. Irvin, Howard, and Lane > Cox.

Then again, maybe Howard ends up back here anyway. The Chiefs have a zillion free agents and Howard might be the odd man out.

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I think Howard may have benefitted from playing a 3-4 next to Dontari Poe. Still, he has looked improved and i believe part of the problem, like with Clinton McDonald, was motivational.

Attyla the Hawk":14exzokv said:

At the time I was crushed.

But then in hindsight, if we had drafted Cox, it's extremely likely we don't sign Michael Bennett in 2013. At that time, we were running with Clemons and Bryant at ends and Bennett was signed to be our interior 3T. With Cox, we're not in that market.

So ultimately, I'd say it worked out well for us in the end.

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Definitely could have prevented that steal of a move.

kearly":3egzc56i said:

It wasn't long ago that a disruptive interior DL was one of the rarest commodities in the game. Now there are so many of them, it's almost as if every DT with good tape in college is getting it done in the NFL these days.

The sad thing is, Jaye Howard turned into a pretty good all-around DT, a fringe pro-bowler. If only they had held on to him, they would have looked like geniuses for moving down. Irvin, Howard, and Lane > Cox.

Then again, maybe Howard ends up back here anyway. The Chiefs have a zillion free agents and Howard might be the odd man out.

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Howard would be nice, but I'd be surprised if the rest of the league makes the same mistake they did with Bennett and Avril and some team didn't give Jaye more than the Hawks can.

kearly":2zfoz6ad said:

It wasn't long ago that a disruptive interior DL was one of the rarest commodities in the game. Now there are so many of them, it's almost as if every DT with good tape in college is getting it done in the NFL these days.

.

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I don't know if it's all that many getting it done; it seems like much of the interior damage is done by ends shifting down. It is a big response to the evolution of offense. Many teams do very little power running anymore, TEs are glorified receivers and true FBs barely exist.

purpleneer":1f0jdh2x said:

I don't know if it's all that many getting it done; it seems like much of the interior damage is done by ends shifting down. It is a big response to the evolution of offense. Many teams do very little power running anymore, TEs are glorified receivers and true FBs barely exist.

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If that's the case then I feel a bit extra annoyed that Seattle hasn't found their interior pressure guy yet.

kearly":7625lisp said:

purpleneer":7625lisp said:

I don't know if it's all that many getting it done; it seems like much of the interior damage is done by ends shifting down. It is a big response to the evolution of offense. Many teams do very little power running anymore, TEs are glorified receivers and true FBs barely exist.

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If that's the case then I feel a bit extra annoyed that Seattle hasn't found their interior pressure guy yet.

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I think Frank Clark can emerge as that kind of guy. If we look at the interior guys that are doing the damage -- they almost all took a year or more to really start to become that guy. Not a lot of out of the box interior pass rushers are producing day one.

Seattle has found it kind of elusive. But really we've not focused on that need either. We've focused on pass catching targets each of the last 3 offseasons. It will be interesting to see what develops this year as Pete has thrown down the gauntlet with respect to where he wants to focus his additions this offseason.

I'm confident we're going to do much better than we have previously where we've relied on day 3 prospects for our infusion of new DL/OL talent.