The draft’s biggest surprise came in the middle of the first round, when the Seahawks after trading down from No. 12 to No. 15 took former West Virginia defensive end Bruce Irvin.
Regarded as a reach by those who didn’t realize multiple teams had Irvin rated among the top 15 available players, Irvin says he’ll justify the Seahawks’ faith in him.
“People say 15 was a reach,” Irvin said, via the Associated Press. “I don’t think it was a reach. I didn’t expect to go 15, I’m not going to lie about that, but they felt different and I don’t blame them for it. I’m going to come in here and it’s going to pay off for them.”
Seahawks fans hope he will, especially since players like Quinton Coples and Melvin Ingram were still on the board when the Seahawks selected Irvin.
Apart from his controversial arrival to the NFL, Irvin brings other compelling factors to the NFL table. He had a rough upbringing, spent two weeks in jail as a teenager, dropped out of high school, and then turned his life completely around, becoming one of the best pass rushers in college football.
As he enters the NFL, Irvin arguably is as much of a project as the 15th overall pick from two years ago. But things have worked fairly well for Jason Pierre-Paul.
Perhaps the biggest benefit arising from the decision to pick Irvin is that, regardless of the outcome, people beyond the Pacific Northwest will be paying attention to the Seahawks, for reasons other than their new uniforms.