Linebacker among best in NFL in getting to QB
ASHBURN – The advice comes from legends — one a Super Bowl champion, another who is a Hall of Famer — and Brian Orakpo doesn’t turn it down. Before the win over Chicago, ex-Redskins defensive end Charles Mann offered a couple tips on the sidelines. Orakpo, perhaps in a coincidence, recorded two sacks.
Then Orakpo picked all-time sack leader Bruce Smith’s brain. He watches film of other pass rushers, seeking tips to improve his own game.
“I’m a guy that’s open to always trying to get better,” Orakpo said. “It’s great to take advice from guys like [Mann], all these great guys that have been a part of this game, to help tweak my game and help me progress as a premier pass rusher.”
Which is what Orakpo is becoming. At the midway point, the second-year linebacker has seven sacks and has drawn at least a half-dozen holding penalties.
“He could go to the Pro Bowl off the holding calls,” Redskins safety Reed Doughty said. “If people didn’t hold him, he’d have at least five or six more sacks.”
Thing is, this is still an adjustment year for Orakpo. In college, he rushed from a four-point stance as an end at the University of Texas. Last season, he played outside linebacker but was several yards off the ball compared to up on the line this year. Though he got sacks from a two-point stance last year, those typically came off blitzes. He also rushed as an end last season, something he isn’t doing now.
At least now he’s more like an end; that allows him to explode quicker into blockers.
“The hardest thing is the explosiveness and staying low in a two-point stance,” said Orakpo, who hung out in Aruba during the bye with teammates Carlos Rogers and DeAngelo Hall as well as former Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels. “You’re automatically up, so you’re exposing your chest. … The normal fan would not think that’s a big transition, but as you can see, a lot of guys can’t do that. It’s a different movement and still having that same velocity and same explosiveness.”
Fellow end turned linebacker Andre Carter struggled more with this and has returned to rushing as an end. But Orakpo likes rushing from this position. He’s able to stay low, enabling him to dip his shoulder when going outside. Or it allows him to bull rush bigger linemen by getting into their chest with force.
“He slips on the edge so quick, you can’t tell if he’s going to bull rush or run around you,” Doughty said. “By the time you figure it out, it’s over. Obviously he’s in a position that really suits him.”
He’s more consistent with his rush. Orakpo has recorded sacks in five of the eight games; last season his 11 sacks came in seven games. His coaches say he’s developing into a complete linebacker, too. But he’s paid to get pressure.
“That’s something he works at,” said defensive assistant Kirk Olivadotti, who worked with Orakpo last year and is doing so again this season. “It wasn’t exactly natural to him. … There’s a difference between being a good pass rusher and a good blitzer, and that’s the progression he’s made. Good athletes can make that transition quick.”
It could result in more plays for the defense and another Pro Bowl trip.
“He’s relentless,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “To have him playing 100 miles an hour all the time gives you a chance for him to make plays, both in the run game and the pass game. He studies the game extremely hard. He’ll be a big play guy for years to come.”
