Seahawks select OLB Bruce Irvin with 1st round pick

By Kshell

The Seattle Seahawks made a bold move in this years NFL draft that shocked all the prognosticators. The Seahawks first of all traded their 12th pick overall in the draft to the Philadelphia Eagles for the Eagles 15th pick overall, 4th rounder(114th overall) and 6th rounder through the Colts(172nd overall). Then the Seahawks took troubled OLB Bruce Irvin out of West Virginia University. Irvin is considered the best pass rusher in this entire draft but has had some off the field issues. He also appears to be as of right now a one dimensional player. Most people had Irvin projected to go into the second round although Rob Rang had him going to the Baltimore Ravens with the 29th pick. In fact several teams coveted Irvin who offers an elite skill set which could make this Seahawks defense very dangerous.

The major negative on Irvin is his poor rap sheet. Irvin was ruled ineligible to play high school football and served time in Juvenile while in high school before dropping out and getting his GED. He also had to attend Mt. San Antonio junior college in 2009 where all he did was earn first-team all-american status recording 72 tackles, 21 for loss and 16 sacks. After he signed with the West Virginina Mountaineers he had a monster year in 2010. In 2010 Irvin recorded 14 sacks and earned second-team all-big east. In 2011 he recorded 8.5 sacks and was first team all-big east. Irvin is 6'3" 245 lbs who runs a 4.5 40 which Pete Carroll says is closer to 4.4 actually. Irvin also had the fastest shuttle time at 4.03 seconds he is a fast freak of nature. Some have said his ceiling is Von Miller while his floor is a nickel pass rusher. Either way he is a guy who is going to rack up sacks for the Seahawks and fill a role. Carroll has also known him since he was in high school and feels like he can mentor him so the off field issues won't be a problem. Carroll is banking on Irvin to be on his best behavior and be that beast pass rusher the Seahawks have lacked since trading away Julian Peterson.

Last year the San Francisco 49ers were mocked for "reaching" for Aldon Smith out of Missouri. Smith was taken 7th overall in the draft by the 49ers. This past season Smith started zero games for the 49ers as well so when you hear that you think he was a bust. You couldn't be more wrong either as Smith recorded 14 sacks, forced two fumbles and even recorded a safety. Smith was half a sack away from the rookie record set by Jevon Kearse. Smith is a specialist for the 49ers and they used him to get to the NFC championship game. He was also arrested very recently for a DUI so like Irvin might have some character issues. In today's pass happy NFL the most important thing in this league to be successful is having a good passing offense which the Seahawks addressed with  Matt Flynn and a good passing defense. The Seahawks have a great secondary ranking 11th against the pass. The Seahawks however needed a pass rusher as their leading sack man was Chris Clemons who had 11 but will be turning 31. After Clemons? Leroy Hill with just four sacks. The facts are the Seahawks needed more pass rushers and even if that's all Irvin does much like Smith does for the 49ers this pick is worth it.

I know I preach not to trust Seattle sports but I do trust Pete Carroll and John Schneider until they do me wrong. In the draft they haven't so far. In their first draft in 2010 they took pro bowler safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor(5th round). They also took two year starter at left tackle Russell Okung and nickel corner Walter Thurmond. The following year they took all rookie selection Richard Sherman in the fifth round who emerged as a starter. Also took starters James Carpenter, John Moffitt(3rd round) and linebacker K.J. Wright(4th round). That doesn't include Doug Baldwin who they signed off free agency who went undrafted. Baldwin this past year started one game while catching 51 passes for 788 yards and four touchdowns. Add it all up the Seahawks in the last two years through the draft have had eight impact players. They also acquired an extra fourth and sixth round pick in the process a point that keeps being ignored. These two know what they are doing especially in the draft.

The Seahawks moved back and acquired some picks while grabbing the guy they wanted. Sure most pundits had Irvin slipping to the second round so why not wait until then you ask? Obviously Carroll and Schneider heard through the grapevine that somebody else liked Irvin a lot. In fact seven or more NFL teams had Irvin in their top 15 so the Seahawks didn't want to risk it. As for the character issues? I can care less to tell you the truth. The Seahawks with this pick did something that the Tim Ruskell era Seahawks wouldn't have done. They swung for the fences and ignored "character" issues. Facts are in the NFL not all these guys you root for are "good" guys in fact most are scum. Carroll unlike Ruskell isn't trying to build a community service all-star team he is trying to win a Super Bowl championship which this team deserves! Irvin is an elite pass rusher who was misused in a 3-3-5 and still recorded 22.5 sacks in two seasons there. Even if he is one dimensional he is elite at that skill. I love this pick and I'm excited for what Carroll has up his sleeve in the later rounds where the Seahawks in recent years tend to excell at.