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Redskins linebacker Orakpo sees a holding pattern


ASHBURN, Va. (AP) - It's not everyday someone draws a walk-off holding penalty to beat the Dallas Cowboys. The way Brian Orakpo was playing, it shouldn't have been a surprise.

The Washington Redskins linebacker drew three holding calls on Dallas tackle Alex Barron in Sunday's 13-7 win. That's 30 yards worth of setback for a Cowboys offense that came very close to pulling out the victory.

Orakpo will have to get used to it. After setting a Redskins rookie record with 11 sacks and earning a Pro Bowl berth last season, he is showing no sign of a sophomore slump. Not only is he stronger, but he's getting a chance to blitz perhaps three times as often in his new role as an outside linebacker in the team's 3-4 alignment.

The Redskins host Houston on Sunday.

"He has great leverage and he knows how to use it," fullback Mike Sellers said. "He makes a lot of linemen panic because he's one of those new guys in the league that people watch to see what he's doing. He'll be the next DeMarcus Ware, probably even a little bit better, to be honest.":noooo

Barron's hold of Orakpo in the game's final play was so obvious - he grabbed Orakpo around the neck in an act of near desperation - that many Redskins knew they had won the game before the play was completed. Tony Romo's apparent game-winning touchdown pass was negated by the penalty, but Romo likely would have been sacked if Orakpo hadn't been held.

"It's going to be fun watching him this year," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "If they don't hold him, those are sacks."

Orakpo's maturity also is impressive. Many NFL players are still cutups in their second year in the league - behaving more like teenagers than well-paid adults. Orakpo carries himself as if he's 30.

"He is an old soul," defensive end Andre Carter said. "Everything he does is real laid-back. He's cool, calm and collected. He's old-school, like that. Brian's always been mature for his age. He's always been strong-headed, strong-willed. I'm not even worried about him."

Orakpo, who became a father this summer, has developed a rigorous Monday workout routine based on plyometrics, a type of exercise that develops both speed and power. He'll do backpedals, sidesteps, lunges and then sprint up and down a hill as many as 10 times - on a day when nearly every player is sore from the game the day before.

"It helps me get the juices flowing, get all the soreness out," Orakpo said. "Then I get that day off on Tuesday."

While the holding penalties are great, Orakpo would rather have the sacks. That'll be his goal as the Redskins host the Houston Texans this weekend, when he'll face a team from his home state for the second straight week. Orakpo was born in Houston and was originally a Houston Oilers fan, then later rooted for the Texans.

His high school, however, was nicknamed the Redskins.

"My high school coach told me, 'Once you're a Redskin, you're always a Redskin,"' he said.
 
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I doubt Orakpo will ever be as complete a player as Ware is. He'll be an annual double digit sack guy, but he won't be the force against the pass and run that Ware is.
 

LAZARUS_LOGAN

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Ok, this guy still after 7 games does not have a single sack against the division. And if memory serves me, he recorded no sacks in that game against us. He had no success against Free so he switched sides. I haven'[t heard Ware doing that.

And another thing, like you said Midswart and I've been saying it, he is predestrian--to put it nicely, against the run and even lousier in coverage. He's one dimensional. All he can do is pass rush. Personally, I find him overrated like Lavar. There had been rumors that he is on steroids.

And isn't that typical of a Redskins? Not only the fans but a player as well. They always claiming some player on their team is the "NEXT SO-AND-SO".

Cooley was suppsoed to be the NEXT Witten---but better.

They had this 7th rounder WR last year name Marko Mitchell, and he was suppsoed to have been the NEXT Marcus Colston of the Saints---another 7th rounder.

They got this WR, who used to play Arena League name Armstrong, and already they were touting him as being the NEXT Miles Austin.

Arrington was supposed to be the NEXT Lawrence Taylor.

Malcon Kelly... the NEXT Andre Johnson.

Jason Campbell...the NEXT Doug Williams.

Carlos Rogers... the NEXT Deion Sanders.

Devin Thomas... the NEXT T.O. without the drama.

Sean Taylor... the NEXT Ronnie Lott.

Laron Landry... the NEXT Sean Taylor.

Oh and it gets better... remember Colt Brennen...? He was suppsoed to be the NEXT Tom Brady. No lie. They made this claim because Colt was also selected in the 6th round.

And now McNabb is supposed to be the NEXT Elway.
 

LAZARUS_LOGAN

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He's not going to be going up against the Alex Barron's every week, to where he can switch to if he is not having success on the other side.

You say he will get double-digit sacks, but if he doesn't, watch and see Redskins' fans make up all kinds of excuses as to how "teams are avoiding him". That was the excuse Redskins' fans used for Taylor when he wasn't putting up stats or getting these INTs. Until the following year, he ended up leading the league in TDs given up---something Roy had never done in his worst year, and despite the footage I provided for them, they still denied it and made excuses and blamed others, namely Archuleta. I still remember as to how Archuleta was scapegoated for the sake of Taylor, and thereby benched even though Archuleta led the team in tackles and even after the benching, Taylor still stunk it up.

You won't be,ieve how Taylor has become diefied after his death. According to Redskins' fans, he was on his way to being the "greatest defensive player of all time". I'm not embellishing this.
 
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