Who should replace Orakpo this week? Not Trent Murphy.

[Destino]

Also what was wrong with continuing this discussion in the FA thread? Not all of these things need their own thread... and you'll find that's what is so awesome about this website.

We try not to have 9 discussions about the same thing.

FA thread, as in free agency? How would anyone know to discuss this there?

[Bonez3]

I finally got to watch the Titans' game late last night. Saw 1 play with Trent involved. It was an outside run. He was occupied by 2 blockers, as the runner approached, he pushed the blockers and easily disengaged. He then drove toward the ball carrier, but missed the tackle. Everything was perfect, except the tackle. However, the runner was forced all the way to the sideline and still lost 1 or 2 yards on the play.

Way to go Trent, that is almost perfect linebacker play. Keep up the good work.

Only play I saw and was excellent... Prior games I saw him rush theough the middle alot, and still get good push.

Somebody better highlite plays where they are drawing all this criticism

[Pedro]

You want him to add 30-40 pounds to his 260 lb frame?  He'd have to switch to NT at 300 lbs.  I think you mean, he just needs to get stronger.

 

I do mean he needs to add 30-40lbs - at his current weight he isn't NFL strong and likely won't get any stronger without adding a chunk of muscle, and he's too slow to play on the outside so at around 290lbs he can play inside on a 3 down basis rather than just on 3rd down/passing situations.

 

Maybe I'm clutching at straws trying to figure out a reason we drafted him other than our FO being ****?

[KingGibbs]

So you want to move Robinson to OLB when he's just getting comfortable and growing at MLB and you want to just sit Murphy whom we drafted with our 1st pick and has an opportunity to show if he can play? Umm yeah. No. Hell no.

[carex]

No, I agree.. I think..THINK.. the scouting is getting better... I mean look at what we did since Joe left... How many drafts? How many probowlers?... who take Malcom Kelly and Devin Thomas over Jordy Nelson!!! 

 

only Thomas was taken over Nelson.  And so was Donnie Avery.

 

And James Hardy, Eddie ROyal and Jerome Simpson were taken over Desean Jackson

[Stefanskins]

only Thomas was taken over Nelson.  And so was Donnie Avery.

 

And James Hardy, Eddie ROyal and Jerome Simpson were taken over Desean Jackson

Gotcha. I remember us talking about Jordy back then and I remember them having a chance to get him. I thought to myself at the time how are they not seeing how good this kid is. I don't even recall Donnie Avery being drafted. I'm sure I've had more, a lot more, misses than hits in drafts. hell I was excited over Ricky Irvin...

[NeverSurrender]

I for one think Trent will do a fine job especially against the run on Monday night.  Orakpo has been invisible this year other then busting up some runs and whiffing on running back in the backfield.  I think Trent is a stout tackler and will hold his own on the edge.  We will need that this week.  Also were 2-5 why wouldn't we start him? 

[DogofWar1]

Murphy is the next man up, so he's got to get at least a short test period.  If he stinks we'll entertain alternatives.  My hope is that he'll be good, and Orakpo set the bar pretty low thus far this season unfortunately.

 

He's young, fresh out of college, and will undoubtedly take some time to learn.  Most players do not spring forth fully grown from the NCAA.  Gotta give them a season or two to get their head on straight.  I hope he'll put things together within a week, but if not, we can't get too antsy about his long term prospects.

[ExoDus84]

Orakpo wasn't producing...at all.  To compare Trent Murphy's stats to Orakpo, and say he was outproducing him, doesn't really help Trent's case to be the starter on Monday night.

 

PFT disagrees. He's rated positively because of his impact outside of sacks.

[Hawkskin]

Adrian Hubbard on the packers practice squad.... Time to find good young talent!!! Make it happen

[SkinsGuy]

Orakpo wasn't producing...at all.  To compare Trent Murphy's stats to Orakpo, and say he was outproducing him, doesn't really help Trent's case to be the starter on Monday night.

The difference is that Murphy is a rookie.

He is going look and play like a rookie at times (maybe even a lot).

I'm sure you don't expect Murphy to look like Lawerence Taylor in his prime when it is his rookie year. However, to expect him to even look like a polished, seasoned veteran at this point is ridiculous.

Almost as ridiculous as suggesting that he be benched this Monday Night. The only way Murphy can get better and more experience is to play. At 2-5, the Redskins have nothing to lose in seeing what they have in their second round pick.

Let the man play.

[longball]

Add Michael Sam to practice squad, waived by Dallas.

[Hunter_R]

Add Michael Sam to practice squad, waived by Dallas.

Michael Sam is slower and weaker than Trent Murphy. No.

[AlldaySkins]

We need to see more of him and a bigger sample size. I'm glad you're not the coach because Riley Jr. doesn't deserve more playing time. Murph is still young and needs to see some time. This season is pretty much done so the rest of the year is basically evaluating for next season. I would like to see a mixture of Murphy and Jeffcoat against the Cowboys.

 

Also want to note that it would be unwise to move Robinson to OLB. If we get a new DC in the offseason (fingers crossed) then there's a possibility we switch to a 4-3. We need to keep Keenan on the inside as we could be moving forward with him as our "mike".

[cleibo2]

We need to see more of him and a bigger sample size. I'm glad you're not the coach because Riley Jr. doesn't deserve more playing time. Murph is still young and needs to see some time. This season is pretty much done so the rest of the year is basically evaluating for next season. I would like to see a mixture of Murphy and Jeffcoat against the Cowboys.

 

Also want to note that it would be unwise to move Robinson to OLB. If we get a new DC in the offseason (fingers crossed) then there's a possibility we switch to a 4-3. We need to keep Keenan on the inside as we could be moving forward with him as our "mike".

 

Moving to a 4-3 would be a nightmare.  Our entire front-seven personnel is based on a 3-4, two-gap scheme.  It's taken years to transition from 4-3 to finally find the type of defensive linemen and linebackers that match a 3-4.

 

And Robinson played OLB at University of Texas; albeit in a 4-3, one-gap scheme.  He actually seems more of a finesse OLB rather than the traditional MLB in a 3-4; hard-hitting, strong, hard to move in space.  Athletes like Ray Lewis, Navarro Bowman, Patrick Willis, Sean Lee - great two-gap scheme MLB's.

[NoCalMike]

I'm tired of babying our draft picks along for 2-3 seasons only to find out they were never NFL caliber talent to  begin with.

 

We went through this with Thomas, Kelly, Jacobs, etc etc etc.....

 

I am not saying Murphy should have started from the beginning, but Orakpo's injury has opened the door for Murphy to get in there and learn with real nfl game reps, instead it looks like we signed a nobody castoff as a replacement.

 

I want to know sooner than later if Murphy is the real deal or just another guy that will toil on the dept chart for a couple seasons before disappearing into ex-NFL oblivion.

 

I don't expect him to be a world beater from Day 1, but I would like to see him in there.

[PortisBetts]

Some of the threads that have been popping up on here have been seriously idiotic.more idiotic than usual. You talk bad about Murphy, a rookie who has had limited snaps in 7 games, but than say start Riley, who has looked nothing short of abysmal this season? Move Robinson to OLB? He is the heart of our d. He had 14 tackles last week. Seriously, do you know anything about football or do you think just because they are linebackers, they can play inside,outside, weak side, strong side etc? Seriously?

[cleibo2]

Some of the threads that have been popping up on here have been seriously idiotic.more idiotic than usual. You talk bad about Murphy, a rookie who has had limited snaps in 7 games, but than say start Riley, who has looked nothing short of abysmal this season? Move Robinson to OLB? He is the heart of our d. He had 14 tackles last week. Seriously, do you know anything about football or do you think just because they are linebackers, they can play inside,outside, weak side, strong side etc? Seriously?

 

As serious as your pessimism.  He played OLB for four years at Texas.  

[Cliffmark1]

I got to agree this thread is stupid. There are so many issues with the team you pick the one thing we should do, develop talent, and take issue with it. The smartest thing you said in the thread is Kerrigan is our best defender. Then to suggest that outplaying orakpo isn't a benchmark is nuts. He's the starter on our team. What other benchmark should we use?

[pjfootballer]

I do mean he needs to add 30-40lbs - at his current weight he isn't NFL strong and likely won't get any stronger without adding a chunk of muscle, and he's too slow to play on the outside so at around 290lbs he can play inside on a 3 down basis rather than just on 3rd down/passing situations.

Maybe I'm clutching at straws trying to figure out a reason we drafted him other than our FO being ****?

He was drafted as an OLBer, not DE. I'm not sure you are understanding how the 3-4 works. Kerrigan plays the other OLBer spot at 260. Typically your DEs are 280-290 and the NT 300+. He's not a DE. He has to get stronger, not heavier.

[Chump Bailey]

I think you're being way too overcritical of Trent personally. He looks fine to me. I'm way more optimistic about him panning out than Moses at this point.

[dballer]

As serious as your pessimism. He played OLB for four years at Texas.

Which is a very different position.

[justice98]

Moving to a 4-3 would be a nightmare.  Our entire front-seven personnel is based on a 3-4, two-gap scheme.  It's taken years to transition from 4-3 to finally find the type of defensive linemen and linebackers that match a 3-4.

 

And Robinson played OLB at University of Texas; albeit in a 4-3, one-gap scheme.  He actually seems more of a finesse OLB rather than the traditional MLB in a 3-4; hard-hitting, strong, hard to move in space.  Athletes like Ray Lewis, Navarro Bowman, Patrick Willis, Sean Lee - great two-gap scheme MLB's.

 

No more of a nightmare than going to the 3-4 has been.  

 

And really, all we did was take 4-3 personnel and convert them to a 3-4.  It's probably questionable how well our linemen and linebackers match a 3-4 still.  But just go down the list in the front 7, almost all of 'em came from a 4-3 in college or from a 4-3 scheme in the pros, except for maybe Bowen.  

 

But we run all kinds of fronts and mix and match during a game, anyway.  

 

Personally, I think we could still run a base 4-3 if we wanted to.  I think it's simpler than people try to make it.  No reason Kerrigan and Orakpo couldn't have been just like Long and Quinn in St. Louis playing DE, with Baker and Cofield at DT.  

[Pedro]

He was drafted as an OLBer, not DE. I'm not sure you are understanding how the 3-4 works. Kerrigan plays the other OLBer spot at 260. Typically your DEs are 280-290 and the NT 300+. He's not a DE. He has to get stronger, not heavier.

 

He is lean and has no explosive muscle burst at 260, he won't get stronger at his weight, he doesn't have the twitch muscle fiber.  I am saying he isn't a 260lb OLB - doesn't matter what he was drafted for, I'm hoping he may be a 290lb DE cos bar 30lbs in weight he is exactly that physically (pretty much same physical stats bar weight as JJ Watt).

 

Edit:  I understand the 3-4 OLB vs DE, I'm talking physiology 'cos no amounting of hoping can change what is or isn't physically possible

[justice98]

He is lean and has no explosive muscle burst at 260, he won't get stronger at his weight, he doesn't have the twitch muscle fiber.  I am saying he isn't a 260lb OLB - doesn't matter what he was drafted for, I'm hoping he may be a 290lb DE cos bar 30lbs in weight he is exactly that physically (pretty much same physical stats bar weight as JJ Watt).

 

Edit:  I understand the 3-4 OLB vs DE, I'm talking physiology 'cos no amounting of hoping can change what is or isn't physically possible

 

Isn't his dad a power lifter or bodybuilder or some such thing.  If anybody can get stronger, I'd think it'd be Murphy.  It's probably in his genes, his whole family is huge.