Football Friday Film Study (FFFS) is a weekly column originated in 2012.
Washington Redskins’ LB Brian Orakpo is going into his fourth season in the National Football League and is in the final year of his rookie contract. When Vinny Cerrato – Washington’s former Executive VP of Football Operations – selected Orakpo #13 overall in the 2009 draft, it was a no-brainer type of pick. Orakpo fell into the Redskins’ lap and became one of Cerrato’s better draft picks. Although, he can’t even pronounce the man’s name correctly.
With an NFL-All Rookie (2009) and Two Pro Bowls (2009, 2010), Orakpo has become one of the more notable pass rushers in the league. His problem, however, is he’s not necessarily considered elite. He’s at what I call the “Elite Crossroad.” Brian Orakpo hasn’t had a double digit sack season since his rookie year. But let’s not slight the guy, he was 1 1/2 sacks away from reaching double digits in 2010 and 1 sack away in 2011. Brian Orakpo is a guy opposing offenses have to prepare for – so he is respected. But he’s ready to be feared and considered one of the league’s elite.
Orakpo tore his pectoral muscle in the Washington Redskins’ Week 2 loss to the St. Louis Rams and missed the remainder of the 2012 season. But the LB is back and ready to “eat,” as he puts it. “Defensive Player of the Year is a goal of mine,” Orakpo said during off-season workouts. “I worked extremely hard this off-season and Defensive Player of the Year is very obtainable.” After reviewing his minimum tape from 2012, Brian Orakpo was on the verge of a very good season. So his goal may not be too far-fetched.
I was asked an interesting question this week about just how good or bad Brian Orakpo has been vs NFC East opponents. One of Orakpo’s issues is his lack of big, game changing plays. And if you want to be considered elite, you need to first dominate your division. So for the next few Football Friday Film Study, we will do a series on every game Orakpo has played against each NFC East rival.
First up is the Dallas Cowboys.
#FFFS - I compiled a few notes from every *passing* play in each game:
2009 Game 1 (2 tackle game)
*LT – Flozell Adams, RT – Doug Free
Orakpo QB Hunts: 12 true
Pass Plays: 27
*Orakpo had a Leg cramp in the 2nd Q, 1:50 min mark.
- Sacks: 0
- QB Pressure: 2
- QB Hits: 1
- No-Call Holds: 0
- Called Holds: 0
- Big Play (3rd down pressure — key game situational pressure or turnovers): 1
- This was Brian Orakpo’s first game against the Dallas Cowboys and first year at linebacker. He played in coverage often, but not very good. When QB hunting, Orakpo’s hand mostly went in the dirt. For the majority of the game, ‘Rak played in coverage. He wasn’t able to wreak much havoc until the fourth quarter — where you really want your top pass rusher to show up. Although he didn’t compile a sack, he came very close two times. But he found out firsthand just how athletic and elusive Cowboys’ QB Tony Romo is in the Pocket:
In the screenshot – Cowboys’ Jason Witten is getting plowed by Orakpo with Flozell Adams working the clean-up shift. Brian Orakpo exploded through the guys for a near-sack. But the elusive Tony Romo was able to escape.
Here’s something I’d consider to be a “big play” by Brian Orakpo. With 11:59 mins. remaining in the game – ‘Rak blew past Cowboys’ RB Marion Barber and went flying at Tony Romo – forcing a London Fletcher interception on a crucial 4th and 2. Redskins led 6-0 at the time. This is the type of late game – big play pressure you won’t from your top pass rusher. No, it wasn’t a sack. But it forced a turnover.
- Orakpo also had another big play with 2:45 mins left in the game. ‘Rak came very close to bringing down Romo in the red zone, but Romo is so elusive that he got out the pocket and thew the team’s first TD of the day. Cowboys took lead 7-6. It’s a tough job trying to get Tony Romo on the ground, but ‘Rak applied the pressure. A mix-up in the secondary led to a Cowboys’ eventual winning TD. But again, these are late game plays where you want your top pass rusher to show up. ‘Rak did just that.
*Quick off-topic note: A batted ball by, at the time, Cowboys’ Stephen Bowen (current Washington Redskins 5 tech) with 1:54 remaining in the game forced a Spencer INT and Redskins’ loss.
2009 Game 2 (1 tackle, 1 assist game)
*LT – Flozell Adams, RT – Doug Free
Pass Plays: 38
Orakpo QB Hunts: 10 true
- Sacks: 0
- QB Pressure: 2 ( one held shirt of Romo couldn’t bring him down)
- QB Hits: 0
- No-Call Holds: 2
- Called Holds: 0
- Big Play (3rd down pressure — key game situational pressure or turnovers): 0
- Brian Orakpo barely went after the QB in this game – hence, the minimum havoc. The Redskins’ as a whole was pretty lethargic in this game.
2010 Game 1 (1 tackle, 1 assist)
*LT – Doug Free, RT – Alex Barron
*1st year in 3-4
Leg cramp 4th Q with 13:30 remaining
Passing Plays: 47
Orakpo QB Hunts: 18 true
- Sacks: 0
- QB Pressure: 5
- QB Hits: 2
- No-Call Holds: 0
- Called Holds: 3 (All on Alex Barron who at the time led the league in Penalties)
- Big Play (3rd down pressure — key game situational pressure or turnovers): 2
- Brian Orakpo didn’t have a sack in the game, but boy did he have a game. ‘Rak was dominant. Very dominant — in the most crucial points in the game too. Majority of the havoc he wreaked came in the fourth quarter. Again, that’s where you want your top pass rusher to show up and show out. Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett knew Cowboys’ RT Alex Barron from his days with the Rams, so he had a feeling that the ‘Skins could take advantage of his undisciplined play often in the game. Orakpo forced 3 holding calls on Barron, but he also had 5 QB pressures against Doug Free. He was relentless in this game. The final holding call forced by Orakpo negated what would have been the Cowboys’ game winning touchdown. But there was also a beautiful play Orakpo had that wasn’t against the pass. It was so nice, I had to add it to this column:
Orakpo busted through a double team and simply blew up a crucial 3rd and 2 play with a little under 7 mins remaining in the game. ‘Rak forced Tashard Choice further back than he wanted to go and made it possible for London Fletcher to come up and make the huge 3rd down stop. Redskins led 10-7 at the time, and because of the stop – was able to allow the offense to add 3 more points on their next drive.
*2010 Game 2 (1 tackle, 1 assist) - I was unable to get this film up, so I’ll update once I can view it.
2011 Game 1 (1 assist tackle)
Orakpo QB Hunts: 20 true
*LT – Doug Free, RT – Tyron Smith
Passing Plays: 36
- Sacks: 0
- QB Pressure: 1
- QB Hits: 1 (10 mins remaining in 3rd Q, 9-9 — Orakpo put the heat on Romo and forced a Kevin Barnes interception on 3rd and 18. Redskins ended up scoring on the next drive — 16-9.
- No-Call Holds: 1
- Called Holds:
- Big Play (3rd down pressure — key game situational pressure or turnovers): 1
- Brian Orakpo didn’t register a sack against the Cowboys in this game. But he did force a key 2nd half interception by applying pressure on Tony Romo.
2011 Game 2 (2 tackles, 4 assist)
Orakpo QB Hunts: 22 true
Passing Plays: 37
- Sacks:0
- QB Pressure: 6
- QB Hits: 3
- No-Call Holds: 2
- Called Holds: 0
- Big Play (3rd down pressure — key game situational pressure or turnovers): 0
- To label this game for Orakpo “active” would be an understatement. He was all over the place in this game. But again, did not register a single sack. He applied a lot of pressure and a few QB hits. He came really close to a sack:
Somehow Romo was able to escape this near-sack by Orakpo. Its one he probably should have made. Since he didn’t, the Cowboys got a 1st down on this 3rd and 6 play with less than a minute remaining in the 3rd Q.
What I learned - While Brian Orakpo doesn’t have a single career sack against the Dallas Cowboys – he has been a factor in most of the games. His 2nd half pressure packed plays has helped the Redskins defense when playing Dallas. He’s almost had quite a few sacks, but Tony Romo has been able to elude or get the ball out quickly.
Conclusion - When judging pass rush — too many people focus on the glamorous stats like sacks. And while that’s important, it’s also about what the name suggests — pass rushing. Can you get consistent pressure on a QB and disrupt his progression in the pocket? That’s what I look for. Brian Orakpo has been able to apply pressure – major pressure, at times against the Dallas Cowboys. It just hasn’t resulted in sacks. But based on the pressure he’s forced, I don’t think it’s far fetched to believe he’ll have some future sacks vs Dallas.
