After re-watching this game for the first time on tape, I've learned a few thing.
Primarily there is no question in my mind that Red is a much better pass rusher at this stage of their career. I think that we would have actually won the game if Red was playing on 3rd downs. He was disruptive and gaining immediate penetration on Massie.
I'm not saying Irvin cannot be much better than Red as a pass rushing DE in the future, but for right now, he's pretty clear. Can Irvin get better without the 1st team reps and live games? I don't know, I never played DE. However, pass rushing DE seems like one of the easier positions to learn.
One of the things I've noticed out of Irvin is that I don't feel like he has a high motor- he needs to get more aggressive. He is the most ineffective stunt rusher I've ever seen. He usually gets to the point of contact and just stutters his feet and sits back. After watching effective pass rushers like Matthews run stunts, it's clear he needs to aggressively attack the middle of the pocket.
One of the reasons Irvin was so effective in College was that he was highly instinctive, raw and just tried to get after the QB with speed/power. I feel like now he is thinking too much. He looks uncomfortable and ineffective.
He looks like I did when I was first learning to play golf. I thought of a hundred things before I'd take the club back...okay, Grip, posture, take the club back low and slow, left shoulder closed, right elbow in, high finish. Needless to say, it wasn't always a great result.
I know Irvin is trying to learn different techniques, ect, but if he cannot do even one technique well then we need to put him on the bench until he has developed it. To this point, he gets erased on nearly every play. Massie should have been chewed up and spit out, but instead it was Irvin who was a non-factor for almost the entire game. Disappointed.