RENTON — 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 on Saturday 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.”
Perhaps most encouraging for both the Seahawks and Irvin is that there is still room for growth.
“We always thought he was a really versatile football player,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said. “Remember we brought him in to rush the passer, which he’s doing on third down. And we wanted to find out what he could do with his other stuff. In his workouts coming out, he got kind of hammered that he didn’t look like a linebacker to a lot of the scouts of other teams and all; that was kind of the word on the street, and we needed to find out.
“We think that we’re using him in a way that allows him to use all of his stuff. He’s really quick, he can run really fast, he’s a really natural cover guy. Remember he was a safety in junior college, so he has all of the skills that you want. So we think that at the (strongside) ‘backer spot, we can use all that and still get him as a feature third-down guy.
“It’s worked out; he’s learned his position well. He’ll continue to improve though; he’s still young at it. But we’re happy with the progress that he’s made. He’s really playing much more physical at the point of attack on the edge like we like him and he’s taking pride in that. He just continues to develop. He’s got a couple more years at really growing at the position before he’ll really reach the top of his game.”
Seahawks sign DT Cohen
The Seahawks signed defensive tackle Landon Cohen Monday, filling the final spot on the 53-man roster that has been open since DT Travian Robertson was waived on Dec. 26. The 28-year-old Cohen, who is listed as 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, was a seventh-round pick in 2008, and appeared in 20 games over his first two seasons in Detroit before being released after training camp in 2010. He has since spent time in Jacksonville, New England, then was out of football in 2012, spending that year running his valet parking company, according to an article on the Buffalo Bills’ website. Cohen spent training camp with Buffalo before being released prior to the start of the season. Cohen spent the 2013 season in Dallas and Chicago, starting three games for the Bears. Cohen has 46 tackles in 40 games plays (eight starts) over six NFL seasons. He very briefly spent time with Seattle in 2011 but did not appear in a game.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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