Bruce Irvin was where Arden Key is now. That’s why the seven-year veteran has taken the rookie under his wing.
“I just see a lot of myself in Arden,” Irvin said on The Raiders Insider Podcast, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area. “When he was coming out, he had red flags. People were scared to take a chance on him, but he was a first-round guy. You can’t sit back and tell me that all the edge rushers drafted before him are better. I put Arden up there with the best of them.”
Red flags dropped Key to 89th overall, where the Raiders snapped him up. Irvin also had questions follow him but still went 15th overall.
Both grew up in the Atlanta area, with football their way out. However, both also went through rough patches in their careers, including suspension.
“He’s been great with on-field stuff, and off-field stuff, too,” Key said. “There’s a lot of stuff that he did that I did when I was younger. If he tells me something, it’s meaningful because he has been where I’ve been, and right now he’s at the place I’m trying to go.”
Irvin, 30, has 38 career sacks, including tying his season best with eight in 2017.