From the moment that he was taken in the middle of the 2009 draft, there have been big expectations for Brian Orapko in Washington D.C. Those expectations did nothing but grow, considering the players that were taken shortly after him (Brian Cushing, Jeremy Maclin, Alex Mack, Michael Oher, Percy Harvin, Vontae Davis, and Clay Matthews Jr., all taken within 12 picks after Orakpo). No non-quarterback had more passionate fans and detractors among the Redskins faithful (full disclosure, this author was a committed detractor from day one), and even to this day, this still divides the Redskins fans. Ultimately, what did the Redskins get from #98 and what is his future from now on?
The Orakponistas point to his career sack totals as their biggest evidence of his success in D.C. 40 sacks in 71 games sounds very impressive on the face of it. He currently sits fifth all time among Redskins players in sacks, which again sounds impressive. However, there’s one big reason why these numbers aren’t as impressive as they sound; the splits. Out of his 40 career sacks 15 percent of them came against the Oakland Raiders, including 10 percent of his career sack total in one game, where he victimized an awful backup LT in Mario Henderson. 24 percent of the rest of his career sacks (34 at this point) came against the Falcons and Rams combined. This 14 sacks (35 percent of his career total) came in eight total games. To be fair to Orakpo, he did have a combined seven career sacks against the Cowboys (no sacks in eight games), Eagles (four in nine games), and Giants (three in eight games). And in 12 career games against the Patriots, Saints, Broncos, Packers, Colts, 49ers and Seahawks (the generally thought of best teams during his career), he managed eight sacks (three against the Packers). So, what is clear is that Orakpo wasn’t a true dominating player or even a very good one. He was a player who could victimize a bad team or OT. The biggest complaint of Orakpo by all the Redskins fans was that he only ever had one move, the bull rush, and never used his hands well. And if the blocker could stop that, Orakpo was largely neutralized. While this is anecdotal, the statistics of his sacks certainly support the theory that he was limited to beating bad opponents.
Orakpo did make three pro bowls during his time in D.C, but only one of them was as a reserve in his rookie year. He was an injury replacement for the two other times he made it. And nowhere else was this dichotomy more apparently seen than the Redskins’ front office. At no time during the last two to three years did the Redskins ever seriously approach Orakpo about an extension. Some talks did happen in the past, but Orakpo was looking for, allegedly, $10 to $11 million a year, and the Redskins had no interest in even discussing that. This past offseason, the Redskins seemed content on letting him test the market until, reportedly, defensive coordinator Jim Haslett stood on the proverbial table with Dan Snyder to get Orakpo a one year try out in a new aggressive scheme (which has never happened). So, the team franchise tagged him almost at the last possible second for teams to use the costless agent tags and committed 11 million dollars to him for 2014. Then a few weeks later, the Redskins traded down in the second round and took OLB Trent Murphy with their first overall pick. Even before this second pectoral muscle tear, the writing was on the wall for Orakpo in D.C, and Redskins GM Bruce Allen refused to even discuss a new long term contract with Orakpo and his agent, even at a heavy discount for the team.
So what is his future in the NFL? The question comes down to what position is he going to play. If he’s a 4-front defensive end, he’s going to be going up against Jason Pierre-Paul, Jerry Hughes, and Cliff Avril for costless agency dollars. As a 3-front OLB, he’s going to be facing 3-6 other guys who should command more attention and money. The simple fact is that even before he got hurt, he was headed for a season that would have netted him a one-year, bonus laden contract from a team looking to get production on the cheap. Orakpo’s agent is telling people that they expect to come back to the Redskins on a one-year, veteran's minimum contract to try and reprove himself. This seems only possible if Trent Murphy doesn’t show much potential replacing him, and the Redskins don’t see a costless agent option like Brooks Reed, Brandon Graham, or Anthony Spencer. That’s a pretty small needle to try and thread for Orakpo, and he’ll probably be looking elsewhere for an NFL job. The good news is that someone else will give him a chance, but not at the money that he was once hoping for.