Bruuuuce Irvin

[FrankRizzo]

While there is some risk with him due to his background, this guy has the ability to become an NFL Superstar, and at the position we need help at. He deserves his own thread.

His risk, I feel 100%, is well worth taking him.

BRUCE ALMIGHTY!

Bruce Irvin is looking more & more appealing to me in round 2.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

Besides his proven production (and that's really the bottom line when you're trying to upgrade the pass rush), he's got measurables that stand out.
He's a hell of an athlete, but he's also hungry.
He wasn't some spoiled rich kid who didn't work hard, had everything handed to him.
He saw and tasted and felt what life can feel like. Hard. Struggle. Kind of like JJ Watt before he decided to try and play football... which he did and we all know the result there. While somewhat of a risk, I am positive Bruuuuuuce has the ability to blossom into a star. Not just a guy. Not a Zombo or Walden. But a star.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

If we don't get Shea McClellin, I would not be surprised to see Teddy trade out of #28 for a pair of 2nd rounders, and parlay that into a 2nd-round trifecta that includes Irvin, a DE (Reyes, Crick, Wolfe, Miller), and a CB.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[TeamTundra]

My best case scenario for the first two rounds is McClellin/Mercilus/Irvin as our OLB and
Brockers/Worthy as our DE. I think it can be done if we choose the DL in round 1 and
Irvin in round 2 if Mercilus/McClellin are off the board by pick #28.

 

[FrankRizzo]

My best case scenario for the first two rounds is McClellin/Mercilus/Irvin as our OLB and
Brockers/Worthy as our DE. I think it can be done if we choose the DL in round 1 and
Irvin in round 2 if Mercilus/McClellin are off the board by pick #28.

I also would love Irvin & Worthy. Or McClellin in place of Irvin, but Irvin's upside I feel is waaay higher than Shea, whom I also love.
Brockers scares me, and a lot of others I've talked to.

New piece on Bruce Irvin: http://packersinsider.com/?p=4090

 

[FrankRizzo]

I also would love Irvin & Worthy. Or McClellin in place of Irvin, but Irvin's upside I feel is waaay higher than Shea, whom I also love.
Brockers scares me, and a lot of others I've talked to.

Bruce just tweeted back & forth with me a few times before jumping on Sirius XM NFL Channel.
I think he's really a good young man, and I have no worries about him or his character.
I'd take him at #28 now, ahead of McClellin. This guy is just too talented, both his on-field production and his combine measurements warrant it.

New piece on Bruce Irvin: http://packersinsider.com/?p=4090

 

[FrankRizzo]

I like Mercilus too, am very worried about Brockers.
The thing is, half of these guys never pan out.....

I am just more sure about Irvin and his pure talent and speed, and McClellin and his tenacity.
I will be 100% happy with the draft if either of those guys is our guy, especially Irvin.

 

[Southpaw]

He's quick as hell that's for sure and he's very rangy. But I have concerns about him being strong and physical enough to have his way with Tackles at the NFL level. From the looks of him he's a pure speed rusher.

That being said if he falls to us in the second, it'd be a steal if we got him.

I still like Mercilus more though

 

[FrankRizzo]

He's quick as hell that's for sure and he's very rangy. But I have concerns about him being strong and physical enough to have his way with Tackles at the NFL level. From the looks of him he's a pure speed rusher.

Not sure how to measure "strong" but his combine bench was 2 more than Von Miller, if that's any indication of strength.

 

[Southpaw]

Not sure how to measure "strong" but his combine bench was 2 more than Von Miller, if that's any indication of strength.

Just from watching his highlights he doesn't look like he possesses a whole lot of strength and physicality when pass rusher. He just seems to rely on speed and short quick bursts in tight spaces.

Hey I could be wrong, usually I am about these things, lol.

But hey, if we can't get Mercilus in the first, I am actually kinda liking taking a DT (Devon Still) in the first and Irvin or maybe Curry in the second.

 

[FrankRizzo]

How much immediate help does one get from the draft usually?

2011- Sherrod, Cobb, Alex Green, Davon House...... Cobb helped a little bit although we didn't need him.
2010- Bulaga, Neal, Burnett.... top 3 picks. Bulaga was a backup who helped some for the old Tauscher. Neal and Burnett did nothing as rookies.
2009- Raji, Matthews.... they helped a lot, instant help on defense.

What is our team's biggest weakness now?
PASS RUSH, obviously. No arguing that.
So do we get better if the pass rush improves?
Of course.

This today:

• Bruce Irvin, West Virginia, 6-3, 245, Rounds 2-3

Maybe the most explosive outside rusher in this draft, but one-dimensional and could be a major off-the-field risk. “He’s almost cartoon-like, he can fly,” one scout said.
“We all thought he was 6-1, 230-something, he walks across the stage at the combine, 6-3 even, 248, something like that, everybody almost (expletive). They tried at West Virginia to make him a three-down player but they couldn’t do it. So somebody’s going to take him real high just to play third down.”

Didn’t finish his high school career and dropped out because of academic issues, was arrested for robbery and eventually decided to return to football. Earned his GED, walked on at a junior college, then in two seasons at West Virginia had 21½ sacks, including 14 as a junior.

“Bruce is probably the most athletic, explosive edge guy coming out,” another scout said. “But he is tall and linear, a tall, narrow guy (Yeah, Alden Smith was thinner last year, Von Miller was the same).
If he’s going to play the run, he’s going to play it on the way to the quarterback. So he’s not a guy to say, ‘Hey take on the pulling guard,’ or anything like that.

But he can get off on the ball and he can run like a son of a gun.” West Virginia helped him rehabilitate his image last year and he came across as genuine when teams confronted him about his past in interviews. But then he was arrested less than a month after the combine for destruction of property and disorderly conduct for breaking a sign at a sandwich shop near campus. “I would (worry about him off the field),” a scout said. “He said he’s got his (stuff) straightened out, then after the combine he’s back in the hoosegow.

If somebody said he had 12 sacks (as a rookie), I’d believe it. He’s just so overwhelmingly, incredibly fast. Eats up yards and can corner like a cat. He just can’t play first and second down.”

 

[TJV]

I disagree with the notion that Burnett “did nothing” as a rookie. He started his rookie season at SS until he had a season-ending ACL injury in week 5. According to the Packers’ website, he joined Collins as the first rookie starters at safety since Chuck Cecil in 1988. He recorded 15 tackles (12 solo) and an INT in those four games. So, except for injury he would have contributed a lot. Unfortunately every rookie acquired this off season is susceptible to the phrase, “except for injury”. My point is Burnett is an example of a draftee who provided immediate help.

As to Irvin, his physical talent is unmistakable as a pass rusher. And if his attitude was right he may even be able to become a more well rounded defender who would take on pulling guards. But this raises a huge red flag for me:

West Virginia helped him rehabilitate his image last year and he came across as genuine when teams confronted him about his past in interviews. But then he was arrested less than a month after the combine for destruction of property and disorderly conduct for breaking a sign at a sandwich shop near campus. “I would (worry about him off the field),” a scout said. “He said he’s got his (stuff) straightened out, then after the combine h’s back in the hoosegow.”

IMO this is even worse than a player testing positive for marijuana at the combine. Every player knows how critical the combine is and every player knows the importance of his potential NFL career to his financial future. At their tender age they should be thinking ‘everything is on the line’ as they market themselves for the draft. So I would think twice about a player who risks “everything” to get high within a couple of months of the combine.

Irvin obviously knows what is at stake too. Because of his talent he’ll probably get picked relatively early in draft in spite of his past. But less than a month after “rehabilitating his image” he can’t control his temper and gets arrested. That’s a HUGE red flag IMO. No matter how talented he is, he can’t rush the passer from jail or while suspended. How would he fit into the Packers locker room? How could Thompson and staff trust he’d fit in when he seemed to say all the right things in his combine interview and followed that up the way he did? Absent a road to Damascus-like conversion I don’t see Thompson taking the risk.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Burnett probably would have done some fine things learning on the fly as a rookie. Starting was good, but remember they had no other starter caliber guy there, so it wasn't like he beat out some stud or something.

But because of the early injury, a la Mike Neal and Justin Harrell, he ultimately was not able to contribute in his rookie season, and Chuck Peprah carried the load to the Super Bowl.

Bruce Irvin is not some Pac Man Jones or Dez Bryant, Johnny Jolly punk.
His past is in the past.
That little incident referred to above was nothing more than kids tee-peeing people and that stuff. I don't like this things, but he's not a guy I am worried about at all. Not like what Ahman Green, Walden did, or Brandon Underwood banging and paying for some hookers at a Packer function, etc.
Irvin is fine.

And as a pass-rusher? That's just what the doctor has ordered for us.

 

[ExpatPacker]

Bruce Irvin has reportedly visited with 11 teams, the Packers were not among them, which leads me to believe that the Packers are not interested in him unless he really drops into the 3rd or 4th round.

Packers must have their eyes on other OLBs ahead of Irvin, my guess.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Bruce Irvin has reportedly visited with 11 teams, the Packers were not among them, which leads me to believe that the Packers are not interested in him unless he really drops into the 3rd or 4th round.

Packers must have their eyes on other OLBs ahead of Irvin, my guess.

Good info, but I know the Packers have taken guys before in the first couple of rounds without visiting him personally. Teddy is often very coy about his doings.
Now in the case of a guy with personality disorders, criminal elements, they need to do their due-diligence.
Irvin is not a criminal type.

But I will expect someone else takes him way higher than most fans are thinking.
Even his critics admit he is as explosive of a pass-rusher as you will find in this draft.
The rumored-baggage is what's keeping him from being looked at like Von Miller even though his numbers almost mirrored Miller.

 

[FrankRizzo]

What did I tell y'all about Bruce Irvin??????
7 teams apparently had a top-15 grade on him, and there he went in the top 15.

Dammit I really wanted this kid. Now we will see him in week 3 up in Seattle.

What a shocker though that high.
I thought I was his biggest, #1 fan. I guess John Schneider, Pete Carroll are!

 

[ExpatPacker]

Several mock drafters now have Kendall Reyes falling to us in round 2 at #59.

That would be just fine with me.