Could Irvin be a 4-3 OLB?

[Snohomie]

He was actually an end in college (3-4 end, but not a 2-gap player in that scheme), not a LB. I've never seen him in coverage - which is odd, given his athletic ability - so I suspect he's not very good in coverage. He is pretty solid at moving towards the ball against the run, and I think he can be a stand up rusher, so it's not without merit.

I would like to see Irvin at WLB become a package we can roll out there (maybe not this year). Clemons can drop into coverage (and isn't bad at it - I believe he was a 3-4LB at one point) so you would have some flexibility with the playcall. But I think the best bet is to work with Irvin to become a good LEO. Irvin currently survives based on pure speed, and enough strength to rock an OT back if they get on their heels. If he can get develop a rip move and learn to pair it with his inside counter (he has the feet for it, did it in college all the time, but he doesn't have the strength to play through contact at this level) he would go a long ways towards improving his rush ability.

We all knew he was a project. The exciting news is that means he can develop in any number of ways, since there are so many things he can improve on... But I'd like his emphasis to be on his pass rush moves, not learning LB keys.

 

[Basis4day]

Hes a project. It means he needs to develop to excel. He will be a Leo. Earl Thomas will stay a safety and red will stays de. Kam a lb. Deal with it.

 

[Grahamhawker]

Didn't it come out around draft time that Irvin was a wr in high school and a safety at either jc or when he first got to West Virginia? If so, the fact that every clip I've seen of him in college has his hand in the dirt may show how his coverage skills were. Dude is an enigma- what a freakin beast athlete though. Someone's got to coach him up for either leo or something else- and I still say watch out when all his pieces fall together.

 

[WestcoastSteve]

I think Irvin reminds me of Pat Swilling from the Saints. I cant remember too many times seeing Swilling OR Ricky Jackson drop back in coverage as OLBers on those 80's Saints. Use Irvin just like that. I think we could easily switch to a 3-4. Red is a huge sized DE for a 3-4. We just need Marcus Tubbs at DT(too bad), Mebane at the other DE, Irvin and Clemons at OLB, KJ and Wagner in the middle.

Ah the annual let's switch to a 3-4 post

 

[WestcoastSteve]

Didn't it come out around draft time that Irvin was a wr in high school and a safety at either jc or when he first got to West Virginia? If so, the fact that every clip I've seen of him in college has his hand in the dirt may show how his coverage skills were. Dude is an enigma- what a freakin beast athlete though. Someone's got to coach him up for either leo or something else- and I still say watch out when all his pieces fall together.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsou...ay.php?source_name=mbase&source_id=2020097638

Taylor Mays. That's who Uiagalelei thought of — USC's big thumper of a safety from O'Dea High School in Seattle. Irvin was athletic enough to be a special-teams standout right away, but he was a little raw in the secondary.

"The nuance and technique you need as a defensive back, he didn't quite have it," Uiagalelei said. "But the kid was a hard worker, a tenacious athlete."

I have a feeling maybe the same goes for him playing in space at LB.

 

[SonicHawk]

There's no way Irvin is anywhere near 250 drippin wet in pads.

 

[bigfatguy64]

I've wondered about this many times. Could he be a Julian Peterson type player? Why not move him around pre snap so he gets different rushing looks? I'd love to see him knife through the guard and center and get to the QB.

I hope I am way off base on this, but I get the sense that Irvin is not the brightest cat. Perhaps at age 25 with the football coaching he has received, he is pretty much doing all he is capable of doing at the NFL level. He has never played LB as far as I know. Can he learn it now and play it at an NFL level?

This is pretty accurate. He's not the smartest guy out there. When he came to WVU, they wanted to put him at LB, but struggled learning any of the assignments quickly and had a hard time covering in space. He was too freak of an athlete to keep off the field, so they pretty much just told him "line up here and get the quarterback." Keep in mind, also, that WVU really didn't coach their DL up on pass rushing. We were primarily a 3-3-5 stack team and the dline's focus was eating up blockers to free up blitzers. We had 4 man front packages, but that wasn't really our teams focus. Give Irvin another year or so with full on pass rush coaching and he should excel.

Also, to some other posts... he was a WR in high school before he dropped out. When he went to JC, he started out at safety but couldn't crack the starting lineup, and pretty much same thing as WVU...they decided he was too good of an athlete to sit, so they put him on the line and told him to get the QB

 

[polarbill1999]

I agree with a lot of others. It would be awesome if Irvin could play more of an OLB position(at least on running downs) and rush the passer frequently or in passing situations. The problem is at this point I don't think he has ever played LB really. I am not sure he has the instincts or the ability to get off blocks in traffic.

I see Irvin either staying as a situational speed pass rusher, which isn't a bad thing at if he can get about 10 sacks a year, or add 10-15 pounds and be able to hold up against the run and rush the passer(take clemons spot full time).

I brought it up a while ago but what do people think about drafting a player that fits that OLB/DE position and has shown the ability to play OLB in college? What about a guy like Travis Long from WSU? He was pretty much the only good defensive player for the coogs the last 2 or 3 years, can rush the passer and is a war daddy. I don't know if he grades out well as a stand up OLB but if nfldraftscout.com's projections are correct we may be able to get him in the 4th or so.

Then again maybe the DE/OLB isn't a position that fits in Carrol's system in which case we may need to find a true replacement for Clem. What guys are out there that can play DE and be effective against the pass and run? Is Ezekiel Ansah a guy who could fit that role? IS he a good pass rusher? Could he be a guy that plays LEO full time? This would allow Bruce to come in for Red in passing downs? What about montgomery? does he fit this role as well? Any other guys you like to fit that role?