Bruce Irvin is discussing his second season as a linebacker, talking about how he has finally accepted that he is no longer a defensive end, when Cliff Avril interrupts from the next locker over.
“He ain’t bought in all the way,” Avril says with a laugh.
And Avril is right, as much as Irvin has improved as a linebacker this year, he is still in many ways a defensive end at heart, putting the act of hitting a quarterback above all else.
“I’ll always be a D-lineman at heart, but (linebacker) is fun,” said Irvin, who was drafted in the first round as an end in 2012, but moved to strongside linebacker last year.
In fact Irvin, who had 6.0 sacks this season while splitting time between linebacker and pass rusher, says he’d still take a sack over an interception return for a touchdown. It is a play that is the Holy Grail for many defensive players, and something Irvin has two of this year, including one in Seattle’s Week 17 win over St. Louis that clinched the NFC West title.
“That was fun, but I’d rather have a sack though,” he said. “I’d rather have two sacks. I’d take one and a half sacks over them two touchdowns. I need them sacks, man. I need ‘em. I need ‘em, man.”
But even if the pass-rushing element of his job is still Irvin’s first love, he is embracing his role at linebacker in a way he didn’t in 2013. It wasn’t that Irvin was bad last season, but he didn’t have the impact he has had this season. He is playing well against the run, making plays in coverage, making the right pre-snap adjustments, all while still getting those cherished sacks as a pass rusher.
“I feel like I’ve made a significant stride to becoming a good, consistent ‘backer,” Irvin said. “The biggest thing with me was just being consistent. Last year I’d have a good game, then fall off two games, then have a good game. So that was the biggest thing for me was to try to stay consistent, and I think I’ve done that pretty well this year.”
Irvin said the biggest change as been “Just studying more. I wasn’t too sold on becoming a ‘backer, because I was a D-end all my life. So I really didn’t buy in last year like I was supposed to. But this year, I took it more seriously, I guess you could say, studying my craft, trying to correct my mistakes.”
By thriving in a dual role this season, Irvin, who is arguably the team’s best pound-for-pound athlete, has overcome one of his perceived weaknesses coming out of West Virginia, where he was used as a situational pass rusher. Plenty of people liked Irvin’s upside in the 2012 draft, but not everyone was sold on the idea of him as a first-round pick. Seattle, however, used the No. 15 pick on Irvin, and he was effective, collecting 8.0 sacks, the most for a rookie that season, but as was the case in college, he was a part-time player.
This season, however, Irvin has played 70.8 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps and his role has increased even more of late with him playing 84 percent or more of the snaps in each of the past three games. Against Carolina and mobile quarterback Cam Newton, who Irvin sacked twice earlier this season, Irvin figures to have a big role once again when Seattle kicks off postseason play tomorrow night.
“I’m just doing the complete opposite of what my biggest knock was coming into the league — I was a one-dimensional pass rusher who couldn’t play the run,” Irvin said. “I think I’m proving that I can play the run pretty good. Pass rushing is coming along, so I think I’m becoming a complete player if you ask me.”
The Seahawks were excited about the idea of Irvin as a linebacker when they made the move last season.
“When you look up the picture of a linebacker, his face shows up,” linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. said early last season. “We’re really excited, he’s going to do it all. He’s going to be rushing the passer, he’s going to be playing the run, he’s going to be buzzing to the flats, he’s going to be flying around.”
But it took time for Irvin to not just learn how to be a linebacker, but also to embrace the change. And after a second season at his new position, Irvin is starting to look more and more like that player Norton described 15 months ago.
“I’m just trying to be consistent,” Irvin said. “Talent is cool, but when you’re team can’t depend on you to be at the right spot or depend on you to make certain plays, that don’t mean nothing. That’s my biggest thing, I’m just trying to be dependable, man. Let these guys know that I’m going to be there when I’m supposed to be there.”
