Redskins place franchise tag on Orakpo

[Skinzman]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Well, we will have to agree to disagree. If you want to say he is not "elite", fine. No argument. To say "outside of sacks, I really don't think he's a very good player", well, that's a huge leap. I would suggest that it is also unjustified.

From a purely objective standpoint, he may not be worth 12M a year, but he is certainly a 8-9M/year player. Since coming in the league, he has consistently improved his game "outside of sacks" and is well thought of by his teammates who, if you go back and look at their comments, definitely considered him a top 10 OLB. Rak starts on every team that doesn't have a OLB named Ware, Suggs or Mathews. Is he top 5, no. Top 10, yup.

As someone else said, in three years are highest paid players are T. Williams, RGIII and Rak, we are doing something right.

Side note, from a Keim report:
"Finally, KC Joyner included a stat on linebacker Brian Orakpo: 'Orakpo posted a 2.3 percent mark in the disrupted dropback percentage metric that tracks how often a defender tallies a sack, interception, pass defensed or batted ball. That total ranked sixth among all linebackers last year and illustrates the kind of impact Orakpo can have.' "
Offseason Blueprint: Washington Redskins - ESPN

Wouldnt that mean he is #4 then if he doesnt start over only 3 guys? Therefore a top 5 guy.

Also, I think to many of you are still wrapped up in the whole cap being 120 mil or less. It is over 130 mil now and will be around 150 mil in 3 to 4 years. His value of 8-9 mil will go up as the cap does. I would agree that 11 mil is to much for him with 120 mil cap or less, but with where the cap is headed, he is worth 11 mil imo.