Move Bruce Irvin Back to DE

The Seahawks drafted Bruce Irvin in the first round of the 2012 draft. At the time Irvin was considered a reach by many. In college he was essentially a one trick pony. He made it at West Virginia and built his NFL potential as a pass rusher. According to the NFL.com player profile, "Bruce would be an ideal option at outside backer in a 3-4 defense where he can focus solely on rushing the passer."

During his first year with the Seahawks he was used almost exclusively as a pass rushing DE. He found success in this role getting to the QB and notching up eight sacks. The future looked bright for the young and athletic pass rusher. At the end of the 2012 season Irvin he seemed sure to be on the cusp of breaking big. Fans expected an offseason dedicated to refining his skill to boost him to the next level. Then Pete Carroll and his staff threw a wrench in the perceived plan and decided to transition Irvin to an OLB in their 4-3 scheme. This is still the position he plays today.

The Seahawks play a 4-3 and generally only use their OLB as pass rushers on blitzes. As an OLB Irvin is asked to primarily play coverage against the pass and stop the run. Occasionally he is asked to blitz the opposing quarterback. The Seahawks want him to be an everything linebacker, much like K.J. Wright.  However, through his first 19 games at the position (spanning 2013 and 2014) Irvin has been forgettable. He has shown flashes of brilliance, but when those plays happen they remind me that Irvin is even on the team. He doesn't produce consistently.

The stats back up my perception of Irvin as a non-contributor at the OLB position. So far in 2014 he has eight tackles. That is eight tackles in seven games. For comparisons sake here are the Seahawks other main OLB games played and total tackles over the last several season.

LeRoy Hill - 2013 GS 12 G 14 Tkl 31

Malcolm Smith - 2013 GS 8 G 15 Tkl 34

Malcolm Smith - 2014 GS 3 G 7 Tkl 19

Aaron Curry - 2010 GS 16 G 16 Tkl 57

K.J. Wright - 2013 GS 13 G 13 Tkl 46

Notice how Irvin's numbers are nowhere near the other players. Malcolm Smith, K.J. Wright, and LeRoy Hill all out perform Irvin. Even Aaron Curry, who is considered one of the biggest busts in Seahawks history managed to record tackles at a greater rate, 3.5 tkl/g to 1.14 tkl/g,  than Bruce has in 2014.

Now all of this seems really depressing, but stop yourself before you fall into the pit of football despair, there is still hope for Bruce Irvin it will just require a position change back to DE. Irvin's best feature is his pure athleticism. He has put that on display the last two weeks against Oakland and Carolina. He can run fast and jump high. What he appears to struggle with is reading the offense and putting himself in a position to make a play. Often players like that need to have the game simplified to allow them to excel. At DE Irvin could focus his skills on just one job, finding the quarterback and tackling him.

The move would also allow Malcolm Smith (when health) and Kevin Pierre-Louis to get more playing time. Both of those players appear to have the makings of excellent NFL level linebackers. They require less molding and training and more fine tuning to turn them into contributors. They both played the position in college and appear to have a much better feel for it.

In his return to his old role as a DE Irvin would be able to unleash himself as a quarterback seeking missile and provide the Seahawks with the additional pass rush they so desperately need. Instead of hurting the team as a sub-par OLB Irvin could help the team as an average to above average DE. The position change would also free up playing time for other talented players with potentially bright NFL futures. It is time for Pete Carroll to move Irvin back to DE.