STRENGTHS
Irv reminds me a lot of the Eagles Zach Ertz. He has the athletic talent that only a few tight ends/H-backs bring into the NFL. He shows on film the quick feet and lateral agility to run routes like a receiver and to block in the open field. He has those soft and yet strong hands to catch contested passes and the size to be a matchup nightmare for DB’s to deal with on third downs. Irv is a weapon in the red zone and if your defense is not strong defending the middle of the field on passing downs, and third downs, Irv will embarrass your defensive coordinator. Irv has a big catch radius with the flexibility to adjust to the ball in the air and catch the difficult less then accurate pass, thrown by a quarterback under duress. When you select Irv in this draft your selecting not just a talented player but a player who can become a weapon for your offense and a player defenses will have to game plan for.
CONCERNS
Irv is a weapon for your passing game but if he truly wants to become a great player than he has to become more consistent and stronger blocker. He struggles to stay with his blocks because he doesn’t always keep his feet moving when engaged to finish his blocks. That will be magnified at the next level. He needs to get stronger and to continue to move his feet after he engages.
TALENT BOARD ROUND 1.96
You can look at the profile I did on Zach Ertz (Archives). That should give the team selecting Irv his potential impact for their offense. Of course, that’s only if they have a smart offensive coaching staff, interested in using Irv the same way Zach has been used. If you’re not going to do that then your wasting your time selecting him…it’s really that simple. Irv has done inline blocking for his college team and has done a solid job but he does have to continue to gain strength in his upper body and not have it affect his flexibility to run routes and catch the ball. Flexibility, is the key to impacting as a TE /H-back. Lateral agility is also a key athletic talent and skill that players must have to run routes and block in the open field also. Irv has both so, it doesn’t take genius to figure out that he can become a weapon if you use him correctly. Zack Ertz was the 35th pick of the 2013 Draft. I gave him a 1st round talent grade so I suspect Irv will be selected at about the same spot, that’s if teams are smart enough and want to add a player with the same type of talent to impact like Zach Ertz.
