Concerns about Orakpo

[SkinsTerps26]

if people don't see 3 sacks a game, they think someone sucks.

Be ****ing real people (OP). Rak is in a new position, and playing very well.

[littleskins]

I guess the hold at the end of thew Dallas game wasn't at a curcial point in the game. LIKE OMG!!!! LOL

[BossMayne80]

I don't kno if the OP is trolling,I say that because i'm wonering if he sees the amount of times Rak has been held during ALL of our games..Just because braindead refs don't call it ddoes'nt mean he was'nt held...And I mean on almost every play....

[Dallascrushers]

dude orakpo is a monsterrrrrrrr

[jfr3ek]

youre an idiot.

[HailToTheRedskins14]

Bauluga (sp) also had a false start and I believe he was lined up againt Orakpo at the time.

[Thirtyfive2seven]

First of all I can't believe someone actually posted that they weren't impressed with 98. Second, I can't believe anyone else actually agrees with said post. Wow.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Orakpo had a real good game... but if he would just learn to occasionally defeat that hook-around-the-neck hold that the refs are having a hard time spotting he'd easily have double the sack total and would force teams to dramatically alter their gameplan in an effort to slow him down. As it is, he's getting slowed down more in one-on-one situations than he should be. Add a few more pass-rushing techniques to his arsenal on top of that and he would be in the running for recognition as the premiere pass rusher in the NFL.

Orakpo is a beast. Had more sacks than Matthews this week! 2-1.5

Matthews missed most of the game with a hamstring injury, which helped our offense tremendously.

[Conn]

Bauluga (sp) also had a false start and I believe he was lined up againt Orakpo at the time.

That could just as easily be attributed to the ridiculous crowd noise on that particular play, but I'm sure that having Orakpo lined up across from you doesn't help, if you're right. I don't remember.

[Conn]

Orakpo had a real good game... but if he would just learn to occasionally defeat that hook-around-the-neck hold that the refs are having a hard time spotting he'd easily have double the sack total and would force teams to dramatically alter their gameplan in an effort to slow him down. As it is, he's getting slowed down more in one-on-one situations than he should be. Add a few more pass-rushing techniques to his arsenal on top of that and he would easily be in the running for recognition as the premiere pass rusher in the NFL.

The good thing is, he's VERY young. I think he will develop these skills in the coming years. He just happened to have a monstrous game against Oakland that raised his sack total (11) to the point where people expectations are sometimes overblown.

[Enter Apotheosis]

The good thing is, he's VERY young. I think he will develop these skills in the coming years. He just happened to have a monstrous game against Oakland that raised his sack total (11) to the point where people expectations are sometimes overblown.

Agreed. His ceiling is insanely high, he just needs time to adjust to his role in the defense and realize his potential. People around here need to learn to chill out a bit when others point out that he does currently have some flaws as a player, though.

[Redskins4ever]

i don't awant to be mr doom and gloom after a W, but Orakpo hasn't impressed me at all this season and he was 1 on 1 vs Peters all day and not once did he generate pressure. For all the hype he gets he sure doesn't make very many impact plays. If it wasn' for that 4 sack game against the Raiders last year i think more poeple would realize how non impressive he actually is.

sure he will get a sack every other 3 games, but they are meaningless sacks and not at crucial points in the game and he doesn't make game impacting plays. Also he is terrible in space. pretty sad that Kevin Kolb can outrun him with ease.

I just don't understand the hype this guy gets when he isn't that good of player. he is a pure pass rusher and he isn't even good at doing that that on a consistent basis. again, 1 on 1 all game and not a single sack or even pressure on Kolb. yes he was held twice but great pass rushers get sacks and pressure even when held.

Are you serious? Were you watching the same Redskins/Packers game that I was looking at? Orakpo had 2 sacks today! He would have at least 10 in five games had he not been getting held so damn much. Orakpo will have another All Pro year.

[Spear]

Half the time you see Orakpo being held, it's because he put himself in the hold with his technique. Refs aren't going to call that. It's only when he works through his own self-inflicted hold and turns the lineman around that the flag is thrown.

I also disagree with the people who think he's going to improve tremendously. The guy was polished coming out of college. He's pretty much playing to his capabilities. If he's going to get better, it's going to be in coverage and against the run.

BO is our best passrusher, but he isn't quite a superstar. Clay Marthews played today like most Redskins fans think Orakpo plays. And he was held like a sonova**** as well.

[IrepDC]

Half the time you see Orakpo being held, it's because he put himself in the hold with his technique. Refs aren't going to call that. It's only when he works through his own self-inflicted hold and turns the lineman around that the flag is thrown.

I also disagree with the people who think he's going to improve tremendously. The guy was polished coming out of college. He's pretty much playing to his capabilities. If he's going to get better, it's going to be in coverage and against the run.

BO is our best passrusher, but he isn't quite a superstar. Clay Marthews played today like most Redskins fans think Orakpo plays. And he was held like a sonova**** as well.

I agree on pretty much all of your points here. Especially your point that Matthews is the actual reality of what people think Orakpo is. I do think Orakpo can improve a lot more though.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Are you serious? Were you watching the same Redskins/Packers game that I was looking at? Orakpo had 2 sacks today! He would have at least 10 in five games had he not been getting held so damn much. Orakpo will have another All Pro year.

Look at the date of the post you commented on.

I also disagree with the people who think he's going to improve tremendously. The guy was polished coming out of college. He's pretty much playing to his capabilities. If he's going to get better, it's going to be in coverage and against the run.

When a player is smart and hard-working but is limited primarily by athletic ability, he is playing to his capabilities. When a player is smart and hard-working but is limited primarily by technique, he has not yet met his capabilities. My impression thus far is that Orakpo's athleticism currently exceeds his technique by a significant margin.

To say that he can't improve significantly you'd basically have to make the case that Orakpo lacks the physical ability to defeat or avoid that hold.

[Bobbyst21]

Half the time you see Orakpo being held, it's because he put himself in the hold with his technique. Refs aren't going to call that. It's only when he works through his own self-inflicted hold and turns the lineman around that the flag is thrown.

I was just talking about this.....

When BO is being held it always seems to be the same way.He rushes to the outside and the OT hooks his right arm around his neck.You push a rushers head up and they lose all momentum.....

Ok so how does he/the coaches counter this?Well thus far,not at all.But lets say for the sake of argument that our DC/Defensive Line Coach/Linebackers Coach had half a brain.BO is still young,what second year right?So lets not help the kid at all.Lets not teach him how to use his own hands to push the OT's hands away ie Mr.Peppers.Or to start to the outside and spin to the inside.ie Mr.Freeney.Coach the boy up,teach the boy a lil more than the basics.Its not all on Brian.

[Spear]

When a player is smart and hard-working but is limited primarily by athletic ability, he is playing to his capabilities. When a player is smart and hard-working but is limited primarily by technique, he has not yet met his capabilities. My impression thus far is that Orakpo's athleticism currently exceeds his technique by a significant margin.

To say that he can't improve significantly you'd basically have to make the case that Orakpo lacks the physical ability to defeat or avoid that hold.

Orakpo is freakishly strong and fast for his size, but I think he lacks other athletic attributes. A lot has been said about his stiff hips and he doesn't have the wingspan of many of the great rushers. He's not a prototypical passrushing specimen the way a guy like Ware is. If he were, we would never have dared to convert him to 4-3 OLB and he would never have fallen to us in the draft.

[Going Commando]

Orakpo had a real good game... but if he would just learn to occasionally defeat that hook-around-the-neck hold that the refs are having a hard time spotting he'd easily have double the sack total and would force teams to dramatically alter their gameplan in an effort to slow him down. As it is, he's getting slowed down more in one-on-one situations than he should be. Add a few more pass-rushing techniques to his arsenal on top of that and he would be in the running for recognition as the premiere pass rusher in the NFL.

I don't really have a problem with Orakpo's pass rushing ability. Certainly there is room for improvement, but you could say the same for 99% of pass rushers in the league. It's something you grow with over your entire career. Orakpo is much farther along as a pass rusher than I expected him to be at this point in his career. Remember, he came out of college as basically a pure speed rusher. He has already shown a solid inside counter and a devastating bullrush, neither of which I thought he had. He'll certainly get better from here on out, but he's already good enough to be a double digit sacker each season, which is about as much as we can realistically hope for from one of our OLBs.

What troubles me about Orakpo's game are his instincts, particularly against the run. I've said it a couple of times already, but I don't think the game has slowed for Orakpo yet. He often looks a little slow off the snap even though he's shown in the past he has a quick first step. His timing is off, and in the first half yesterday, he was one of the last guys off the line on several occasions. Not only that, I think he has problems with his run-pass keys. A couple of times I caught him reading pass and breaking containment when Green Bay ran it, even when they weren't running misdirection. Luckily the issue didn't come to a head because GB eventually abandoned the run. But if I were scheming to run on our defense, I'd take it his way 80% of the time I called run. For a player with as much functional strength as Orakpo has, and arms as long as he's got, I want to see him become a much better stack and shed defender. Tight ends should never be able to seal him, and he should eventually be able to handle most offensive tackles at the PoA.

Better hand use will help him shed blocks better and of course help him as a pass rusher too. But I get the feeling most of Orakpo's issues are on the mental side of things right now as he adjusts to playing a new position (he's only been a LB for two years, first year in a 3-4). He's a smart, extremely hard working player. He'll improve and get these issues settled if we keep him in a stable scheme. We got a real gem with him.

Now what we can do to help him in the short term is have Albert come back in dominating form and find another consistent source of pressure opposite Orakpo.

[Going Commando]

Orakpo is freakishly strong and fast for his size, but I think he lacks other athletic attributes. A lot has been said about his stiff hips and he doesn't have the wingspan of many of the great rushers. He's not a prototypical passrushing specimen the way a guy like Ware is. If he were, we would never have dared to convert him to 4-3 OLB and he would never have fallen to us in the draft.

You are mistaken and your own logic defeats you. Orakpo is plenty fluid to play OLB, and he has extremely long arms. He's a great open field athlete with fluid hips that he can open and flip with ease in coverage--for God sakes he was originally recruited to play WR!! Of all the prototypical OLBs to compare him to, I would actually say DeMarcus Ware is the best one except that Orakpo is stronger, but less instinctive.

If Orakpo had been a stiff athlete, then we would have never DARED convert him to a SAM linebacker--the opposite of what you say. Who really knows why he fell in the draft? Mike Mayock had him ranked as the third overall prospect on his board at one point. Don't discount the stupidity of NFL GMs. My guess is that there was some serious concerns about his durability since he'd had two knee injuries before.

[Beans]

Orakpo is freakishly strong and fast for his size, but I think he lacks other athletic attributes. A lot has been said about his stiff hips and he doesn't have the wingspan of many of the great rushers. He's not a prototypical passrushing specimen the way a guy like Ware is. If he were, we would never have dared to convert him to 4-3 OLB and he would never have fallen to us in the draft.

This is asinine.John Clayton even said if there was a redo for that draft, Orakpo would go #1 easily. Orakpo was better than Ware in the 10-yd split, 20-yd split, Vert, Broad Jump, bench press, and most importantly Wonderlic (Cowboys are stupid). All this even though he weighed 12 more pounds than Ware at the time of their respective combines. Ware turned out to be a gem, but the concensus at the time was that the Cowboys reached and he was a second rounder. Damn you Parcells!

[kevinklein]

This couldn't be more asinine. Orakpo is by far the most effective, impactful player on our defense. Once we get Haynesworth back in there, with him drawing double teams, Orakpo will be performing at an even higher level than he already is.

[BKSkinsFan]

I actually thought this was a joke thread when I clicked on it wow. Rak and Dirty 30 are playing lights out, definitely both looking like probowlers.

[ChampSkinsFanatic]

i don't awant to be mr doom and gloom after a W, but Orakpo hasn't impressed me at all this season and he was 1 on 1 vs Peters all day and not once did he generate pressure. For all the hype he gets he sure doesn't make very many impact plays. If it wasn' for that 4 sack game against the Raiders last year i think more poeple would realize how non impressive he actually is.

I almost made the same topic last week, hopefully he keeps proving me wrong.

[[[ghost]]]

Orakpo will be even more dangerous when he has a legitimate pass rushing threat on his opposite side.

At that point defenses won't be able to double him, or design the play away from him.

[Kostaskins]

];7872249']Orakpo will be even more dangerous when he has a legitimate pass rushing threat on his opposite side.

At that point defenses won't be able to double him' date=' or design the play away from him.[/quote']

omg so true and a perfect example of this is this weeks team. the colts!