Shocking Stat About Orakpo

[moondog]

He isn't at that Ware/Suggs/Matthews elite level, but he's well above average and very good.

You know, I just do not get it. I'm so tired of this b.s. that people post about Orakpo. I know that you are in support of Orakpo overall, but these statements comparing him to Ware/Suggs/Matthews are just plain stupid. If you are comparing where they are at right now, then yes, Ware and Suggs are probably the better players, but I refuse to say that Matthews is. That being said, I don't think it is fair or right to make "right now" comparisons to these players and is more sensible to compare them to where they were at through their careers in respect to where Orakpo is, which is 37 games. So let's compare them through the first 37 games of their careers, looking at sack numbers alone:

1) Demarcus Ware - 30.5

2) Clay Matthews - 29.5

3) Terrell Suggs - 27.5

4) Brian Orakpo - 26.5

Orakpo has one sack more than Matthews this year. Again, I will bring up the point of playing with a lead. If you look at the careers of Ware, Matthews and Suggs (even through their first 37 games) they were on better teams that played with leads more consistently than Orakpo ever has. Clay Matthews is on a team that is 13-1 this year and has allowed him to pin his ears back due to big leads all year. He has less sacks than Orakpo.

I have heard people on this board complain about Orakpo "padding" his stats against poor teams like the Raiders or Saints when we're winning. Um, ok, I don't see anyone complaining when any of these other guys dominate games against poor teams. All I hear right now on MNF is announcers drooling over Aldon Smith (and rightly so) because SF is dominating Pittsburgh and Smith is out there with one job - get to the QB.

Orakpo has certainly made strides towards getting more involved in turnovers as well as he has forced 2 fumbles in 7 sacks and recovered another. And as I stated earlier, he recovered another fumble the other night that was called dead. Combine that with Orakpo, consider their age, consider the improvement we've seen in BOTH players this year and they have a very bright future. Why anyone would complain about Orakpo at all is simply beyond me. He's not simply "very good." There are about 2-3 "elite" pass rushers in the league that are "in a league of their own" right now. Aside from Ware and Allen, Orakpo deserves to be mentioned with the best of them.

[Reaper 21]

great post moon dog made too much sense for this thread go away.

[moondog]

great post moon dog made too much sense for this thread go away.

Thank you, good sir. I've tried. Hopefully Orakpo can get to double digit sacks this year and notch 15+ next year, although I'm still not sure that would be enough for some people. And as often as Orakpo gets a sack just before Kerrigan gets there or vice versa, I'm not sure either will ever post numbers that high as much as both will consistently be in the 10-12 range.

[Reaper 21]

Thank you, good sir. I've tried. Hopefully Orakpo can get to double digit sacks this year and notch 15+ next year, although I'm still not sure that would be enough for some people. And as often as Orakpo gets a sack just before Kerrigan gets there or vice versa, I'm not sure either will ever post numbers that high as much as both will consistently be in the 10-12 range.

Yea well Bowen and Cofield and Carriker and Neild and Riley and Fletcher sacks are coming often just not by one guy. Its balance but this board only looks at the box score before making such stupid comments.

[moondog]

Yea well Bowen and Cofield and Carriker and Neild and Riley and Fletcher sacks are coming often just not by one guy. Its balance but this board only looks at the box score before making such stupid comments.

Haslett also purposely uses Orakpo to free up Bowen. Anyone who watches the games should have picked up on all the inside blitzes and twists we run with Orakpo to get Bowen freed up on the outside. It's no coincidence Bowen has more sacks this year (6) than he has the rest of his career combined, and from a 3-4 DE spot no less. At least 2 of Kerrigan's sacks have come directly due to Orakpo pressuring the QB into Kerrigan's arms. And he's still managed to post 7 sacks and 2 FF himself.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I feel like I've posted too much info in too many Orakpo-type threads to remember what and where I've posted everything.

[elkabong82]

Ware is the only one of the top 5 sack leaders this season to have more sacks than Orakpo in their first 37 games. Players develop and improve, and it takes more than a couple seasons to do it. Go figure. Plus, Orakpo is just behind Ware, and that's with changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 in just his 2nd year, and having no offseason or camp really in his 3rd year.

[TSO]

For all the talk of Orakpo not garnering a sack against NFC East opponents until yesterday, we forget to mention how many holding penalties he's got against those same teams that has helped us immensely. Two of them now have nullified TD passes from Tony and Eli, the former which would've won them the game.

[CjSuAvE22]

For all the talk of Orakpo not garnering a sack against NFC East opponents until yesterday, we forget to mention how many holding penalties he's got against those same teams that has helped us immensely. Two of them now have nullified TD passes from Tony and Eli, the former which would've won them the game.

We have something special in Orakpo and Kerrigan just like we had something special in Landry and Taylor..

[TSO]

We have something special in Orakpo and Kerrigan just like we had something special in Landry and Taylor..

I agree. Unfortunately, there's no stat or asterisk that goes beside Kerrigan's sacks stating Orakpo's assists. For instance, the sack Kerrigan got against Eli on Sunday was directly caused by Orakpo's inside rush which caused Eli to step back leaving him vulnerable to Kerrigan's outside rush. Had Orakpo not beat his man inside and forced Eli back, Eli would've probably stepped up in the pocket and Kerrigan would've had another two steps to take before he got to him, and who knows what happens in that time.

If anyone can post the video of that play, that would be great. It might go some way in helping people realize just how impactful and disruptive Orakpo is. I don't care if he has the numbers other pass rushers do if he keeps this up.

[CjSuAvE22]

I agree. Unfortunately, there's no stat or asterisk that goes beside Kerrigan's sacks stating Orakpo's assists. For instance, the sack Kerrigan got against Eli on Sunday was directly caused by Orakpo's inside rush which caused Eli to step back leaving him vulnerable to Kerrigan's outside rush. Had Orakpo not beat his man inside and forced Eli back, Eli would've probably stepped up in the pocket and Kerrigan would've had another two steps to take before he got to him, and who knows what happens in that time.

If anyone can post the video of that play, that would be great. It might go some way in helping people realize just how impactful and disruptive Orakpo is. I don't care if he has the numbers other pass rushers do if he keeps this up.

Yeah man its something with those two that many teams would kill for, our defense will be amazing with riley bowen and cofield playing well i cant wait for next season.

[JOSH8572]

i love how people can convice themselves of something if they try hard enough. Orakpo is a good player on a bad team. The biggest play he's made in the last 2 years was the holding call he got vs dallas. When was the last time he made a difference in a game?

[CRobi21]

i love how people can convice themselves of something if they try hard enough. Orakpo is a good player on a bad team. The biggest play he's made in the last 2 years was the holding call he got vs dallas. When was the last time he made a difference in a game?

Didn't he just force a holding call that took away a touchdown last game?

[Warhead36]

Watch the games. Orakpo goes through long stretches of not doing anything. Again, he's a good player but he's not an elite player. Nothing wrong with that.

[CRobi21]

Watch the games. Orakpo goes through long stretches of not doing anything. Again, he's a good player but he's not an elite player. Nothing wrong with that.

Watch other games.

D Ware and Clay Mathews also go through long stretches of not doing anything.

[Hitman21ST]

Watch the games. Orakpo goes through long stretches of not doing anything. Again, he's a good player but he's not an elite player. Nothing wrong with that.

Everyone does that. And "not doing anything" is hardly a good assessment. His presence is always felt, whether it be directly from him or from other players he frees up.

[moondog]

Watch the games. Orakpo goes through long stretches of not doing anything. Again, he's a good player but he's not an elite player. Nothing wrong with that.

I assume you are looking simply at whether or not he makes a tackle or sacks the QB. Football is a team game and there may not be a guy on our defense that has a bigger impact on the other 10 guys around him than Orakpo. At the 3-4 OLB spot, he has become what Haynesworth was supposed to be. He routinely makes everyone else's pass-rushing job easier by commanding attention, double teams, and the chip block from the RB. This means the other guys only have to worry about beating their man.

If you watch the games, Orakpo is routinely blitzed inside or stunted around Bowen to free him up, to much success because defenses are paying attention to our best pass-rusher and Bowen is more than capable of taking advantage of that. Orakpo has not only freed everyone else up but has still been successful getting to the QB himself.

Orakpo has also been responsible for pressuring the QB right into our other pass-rushers arms. It's not as if our scheme says "ok, on this play these 4 guys are going to pass-rush." The scheme typically has lanes for where pass-rushers need to get to or gaps through which they blitz to make everyone's blitz effective. It's a combined arms approach, meaning that when successful, by choosing to avoid one rusher, the QB should be stepping right into another. Our pass-rush is LARGELY dependent on Orakpo beating his man, and not just in the sense that he gets a sack. Our defense is one of the best at pass-rushing in the league because we have several talented pass-rushers, and Orakpo is the best one on our team. He makes our defense go.

Orakpo is a cornerstone of our defense, and much time and effort was spent this past season to build a defense full of players that compliment each other. This has been done almost flawlessly. The final piece of the puzzle to our pass-rush and defense in general is an offense that can allow them to play with a lead, especially in the 4th quarter so Orakpo and Kerrigan can pin their ears back and go.