Just researched and pretty sure it's the iris borer. Will dig them up and check tomorrow.

I dug up about 4-5 that the leaves were crushed/torn up and no signs of borers. I divided up the irises and cut open some of the old mother rhizomes which were still very firm, checked leaves and everything looked pretty healthy. For precaution I went ahead and soaked them in 10% bleach solution since I'm giving these to friends. I'm in the San Fernando Valley in So Ca and I'm reading the iris borers is more common in the Eastern states. Well the next day, I saw 3 fat squirrels fighting along the fence where all my irises are located. They were seriously chasing each other back and forth for a good 2 hours. I think they are the culprits! Then this morning I chased the neighbor's cat that's ALWAYS in our backyard. I walk over to where that cat was and saw a bird's feather in the iris bed. Hmm... maybe it's that damn cat. I'm thinking of putting a small fence up around the irises.

Looks like you answered your own question.. Not borer damage but critters.. I have that problem here sometimes, but its usually my own dogs..