BRUUUUUUUUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Screamin12th]

Love the growth we have seen from this player this season. I have stated that in other threads also as i marvel at how fast he seems to be growing this year. Now i found this article and i think we see why he had issues last season. Glad to see he is buying in.

Bruce Irvin growing into more complete player for Seahawks

 

[blstoker]

Love the growth we have seen from this player this season. I have stated that in other threads also as i marvel at how fast he seems to be growing this year. Now i found this article and i think we see why he had issues last season. Glad to see he is buying in.

Bruce Irvin growing into more complete player for Seahawks

I hope (and I really can't imagine it happening again) that we've seen the last of the "Bruce Irvin is a bust" threads that seemed to be on here quite frequently before the season, he seems to be coming into his own right now and that gives us a very solid LBing corps.

 

[Uhsplit]

Bruse looks to be a great example of it taking a year or two to learn to excell at a position. He still has lots of upside. Actually, gobs of upside.

 

[Podunkparte]

Can't blame those who called him a bust so soon after we had the Aaron Curry experience.

Me though, I had held out hope knowing he was so fast and such a pass rush specialist. Then we moved him away from DE and I thought that was going to be it.

This year he has pulled me back from the ledge though. He has really learned to be an OLB and how to play in coverage, waiting to pounce until he knows whether he needs to stay in coverage or not. His speed has paid off in that aspect. He has had more than a few instances where he has quickly established an edge passed the DL which helps the rest of the LB corps to make the play at the line of scrimmage.

2 pick sixes also help, though that 1st where he tipped it to himself and ran it in was just about the best showing of his pure athletic ability.

I think Bruce Irvin is a keeper. I just hope other teams are still acting like we all did when his name was announced: "Who?!"

 

[flyerhawk]

One of the talking heads on ESPN said a week or two ago that Bruce Irvin was playing as well as any defender in the league right now. Probably a bit of hyperbole but he has playing extremely well.

 

[seattlefan75]

Ill admit i was the first to say after what I saw last season that he was going to be a bust but he did get better at playing LB and did pretty well as far as sacking the QB for LB standards with a few INTs I would first say that we need to lock up bobby wagner then look into extending irvin

 

[gowazzu02]

Bruse looks to be a great example of it taking a year or two to learn to excell at a position. He still has lots of upside. Actually, gobs of upside.

Yeah people like to whine and complain and frankly b@#$ way too early.... look at Richardson this year. 8 games into the year. where is he, bust, blah blah blah. He's really stepped up the last few games. Not everyone is a probowler right out of the gates their rookie year.

 

[Uhsplit]

Yeah people like to whine and complain and frankly b@#$ way too early.... look at Richardson this year. 8 games into the year. where is he, bust, blah blah blah. He's really stepped up the last few games. Not everyone is a probowler right out of the gates their rookie year.

Agreed. Too many fans including many Seahawk fans have no patience and expect instant greatness. If they were in charge everyone gets fired as the door would revolve constantly. There would never be any stability. Can you imagine how many OC's and OL coaches we would be going through if some that post here were the decision makers?

 

[SonnyCID]

Agreed. Too many fans including many Seahawk fans have no patience and expect instant greatness. If they were in charge everyone gets fired as the door would revolve constantly. There would never be any stability. Can you imagine how many OC's and OL coaches we would be going through if some that post here were the decision makers?

If you want to see what a team run by a fan looks like, look no further than the Redskins.

 

[gohusk]

I wasn't a fan of the guy and I think he's doing a great job but a lot of what he's able to do is because we have the best SS in the league and a guy who I think is the best ILB in the league in Wagner. It really does give him the opportunity to use his athleticism and make plays. Don't get me wrong, I think he's playing great and has solid football instincts. I just think that if he were with a different team that wasn't so loaded with competent players and tied down to a roll he'd have problems. He's just a tweener.

 

[tzorn10]

I still think he's painfully average.

 

[Screamin12th]

I still think he's painfully average.

lol

I just don't see how someone with above average speed, above average quickness and above average ball skills can be painfully average. Sure he is no superstar but he is growing each and every year. I would say his first season in the NFL was above average ( lead all rookies in sacks ), his second season was average or maybe a little below it ( playing a new position he had NEVER played before ) and his third season was once again above average ( learning to play the OLB position and doing a above average job at it ). He leads the team in pick 6's :P not bad when you take into account Sherman, Thomas, Kam and Maxwell are on the back end.

Painfully average? no, Average? maybe above average? he has a shot.

If he continues to grow at the pace we saw this year there is no limit to how good he could become. If he does continue to grow at this pace he could end next season as the second best linebacker on the team.

 

[JMR]

I think he's had a strong year with several splash plays. Some of the good plays he's making are probably resulting in someone else looking good so somewhat hard to assess from a fan's perspective of the game. You probably have to say at this point he was a bit over-drafted but to me the glidepath is promising.

 

[Screamin12th]

The thing is about Irvin is he is putting himself in POSITION to make those splash plays, That's the Key here. What we saw from him before was he would take himself OUT OF POSITION to try and make plays. He has soaked up the coaching like a sponge and it has benefited him on the field. His Pick six in the Raiders game was him being where he should be in the Scheme and the rest was pure athletic ability and we all can agree he has GOBS of that. His Pick Six against the Rams was once again him being where he should be in that scheme. He had the outside coverage and Wagz had the inside. He is putting himself in position to make plays something he did not do in 2013. If he has another year next season as good or better than he did this season then he was not over drafted if you ask me.

 

[dude82]

I think for most of the people that thought of him as a reach when he was taken that high as a defensive end, his position change cemented that initial assessment. Between being considered "raw" at the position for which he was originally drafted, switching to a new position his second year without ever having played it before, his new position not being considered conducive to putting up big numbers in the stat sheet anyway and his suspension in the midst of learning that new position taking valuable practice and game application time away at the same time, I think it would have been really easy for that initial assessment to stick. He may always be considered a reach because he went so long without filling up the stat sheet as he adjusted to his new position and new responsibilities, but at the rate he's been improving this year, I think he's on track for an extension and a much longer NFL career than I think a lot of people expected him to have both after he was drafted and especially after the position switch was announced.

 

[Screamin12th]

I think for most of the people that thought of him as a reach when he was taken that high as a defensive end, his position change cemented that initial assessment. Between being considered "raw" at the position for which he was originally drafted, switching to a new position his second year without ever having played it before, his new position not being considered conducive to putting up big numbers in the stat sheet anyway and his suspension in the midst of learning that new position taking valuable practice and game application time away at the same time, I think it would have been really easy for that initial assessment to stick. He may always be considered a reach because he went so long without filling up the stat sheet as he adjusted to his new position and new responsibilities, but at the rate he's been improving this year, I think he's on track for an extension and a much longer NFL career than I think a lot of people expected him to have both after he was drafted and especially after the position switch was announced.

I respect that, but his first season he lead all rookies in sacks. He Rookie season was far from a bust and as far as switching positions because the team went out at got Bennett, Avril to go along with Clemons and Red just sealed that switch is all. He has learned to play a position he had never played before and to make it even harder for him it was at the NFL level. Dude is a stud to play at his level in the pro game after never playing it before. Mad props from me that's for sure. Playing Linebacker is one of the hardest positions to play on defense.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I hope (and I really can't imagine it happening again) that we've seen the last of the "Bruce Irvin is a bust" threads that seemed to be on here quite frequently before the season, he seems to be coming into his own right now and that gives us a very solid LBing corps.

I thought Irvin was doing fine last year. Yah he's not a RIDICULOUS 4-3 OLB, but he's above average and worth re-signing down the road IMO. He locks down his area of the field well and if you watch Seattle DEFINITELY gets hurries on QB when they call the blitz. His speed is unmatched at the 4-3 OLB in the NFL. The guy just flies and it makes him a MAJOR liability when he gets INTs in space (evidenced by 2 TDs this year and a 35 yard fumble recovery his rookie year).

Regardless, yah - this year he went HAM (hard as a mother f'er) and definitely showed stats that you would expect from a mid 1st round pick.

Stats don't tell the whole story (for example, hurries are not a stat and VERY important. I'll take consistent hurries over sacks any day with our secondary. Give me those INTs!) but they still do paint a good picture and this year no question any team hindsight would take that production including the fact he was injured and played hurt a couple games.