bruce irvin?

My world has been pretty boring lately, so there hasn't been a lot on my mind. Still I felt the need to write about something. The most controversial and/or interesting thing that I have thought about lately has been the Seahawks draft, in particular Bruce Irvin. I'll admit, I was just as shocked as most everyone else when they announced the selection. But after taking a further look into why he was selected, I found myself excited about the pick. Regardless of whether Irvin turns out to be a great player or not, I think he was the right choice and here is why.

The biggest argument I have heard about why the Seahawks should not have selected Bruce Irvin is that the hawks reached for him. He supposedly had a 2nd or 3rd round grade. According to who? Mel Kiper? The same Mel Kiper that said JaMarcus Russell will be a top 5 QB within 3 years of being drafted? Just because the "draft experts" say a guy is going to get picked in the 2nd round, common sense will tell you that is not necessarily true. Just ask Courtney Upshaw or Stephen Hill from this years draft. Ask Brady Quinn what he thinks about draft projections. If you're talking about 2nd or 3rd round grades, ask Chris Polk why his "grade" failed to even get him drafted. The draft experts have proven themselves wrong just as often as the teams selecting players. Yet time and time again people base their opinions of the draft on the opinions of these experts.

Based on projections, it was decided that Bruce Irvin would have been available when the Seahawks picked in the 2nd round. Then a few days later it was reported that the Jets were planning on taking Irvin with the very next pick. In addition there were between 3 and 7 teams that would have considered Irvin with their first picks. Considering the run on DE's that happened right after the Seahawks pick, I think it is safe to say that even if the Jets report was false there is still no way that the Seahawks would have been able to get Irvin in the 2nd round.

I think a lot of the people judging the Seahawks pick don't really understand the defensive scheme that the Seahawks run. Nearly all of the experts that were deciding who the Seahawks should draft overlooked the simple concept of which player fits their defense the best. The Seahawks have a pretty unique defense. They run a 4-3, but their strong side DE is Red Bryant. Yes the 6' 4" 333 pound Red Bryant who just signed a big contract extension. The other DE is team sack leader Chris Clemons. Both are starters and there is no way any rookie would have taken either of those spots. One side is a run stuffer, one side is a pass rusher. Everyone knew the Seahawks needed a pass rusher, but more importantly they needed a specific type of pass rusher. Not a run stuffer, their future is set there. They needed a guy that can come in on passing downs and get to the QB, and hopefully eventually take over for Clemons when he starts to decline. Some DE's may have been more complete, but that is not what the Seahawks defense needed. A guy like Quentin Coples realistically had no place on their team. They would have had to completely change their base defense for a rookie. How stupid does that sound?

The biggest need for the Seahawks was a 3rd down pass rusher, a middle linebacker, and maybe a WR or OG. Luke Kuechly was probably the only ILB worth taking that high and he was gone. Dont'a Hightower would have been a possibility. The only other pass rusher I could see that would have fit the Seahawks scheme is Chandler Jones. So should they have taken a WR? They could have stayed at #12 and taken Michael Floyd. But I also think they have receivers capable of putting up some decent numbers this year. I would have loved to see David DeCastro here, but based on how their injury depleted OL excelled at the end of last year, I don't think it was necessary to draft more linemen. I think Melvin Ingram would have been a good pick at OLB/DE. The only problem is that K.J. Wright played well last year and they resigned Leroy Hill. Still, I think Ingram could have challenged for a starting spot and would be able to play all 3 downs.

The success or failure of Bruce Irvin will be compared to guys like Coples, Ingram, and Jones. Regardless of how it turns out, I like the thought behind the pick. They didn't draft a pass rusher last year and could not afford to do it again. They took the guy who they felt fit their team the best and ignored what other people said. I recently read an article about Bill Walsh's NFL draft philosophy. Reading that article just reaffirms my belief that the Seahawks front office knows what they are doing and made the right choice.

Hopefully something more thought invoking than lions trying to eat kids or Kate Upton doing the Cat Daddy happens in the next few days so I have something besides sports to write about.