Does Rob Jackson make Orakpo expendable?

[DC9]

Everyone throwing around the ILB idea for Jackson is making me lose respect for them and their football acumen.

ILB is probably the most mentally and physically demanding position in a 3-4 defense. It's a rare athlete that can play it well... and an even more rare athlete that can play it from a different position like a guy who grew up a 4-3 DE and moved to a 3-4 OLB.

I'll use Rocky McIntosh for example... he was a better than average 4-3 Will. He couldn't play 3-4 ILB. He moved up to St Louis and is playing Will and Sam again and playing very well.

It's not something that everyone can do. He is an OLB.

[Thinking Skins]

Everyone throwing around the ILB idea for Jackson is making me lose respect for them and their football acumen.

ILB is probably the most mentally and physically demanding position in a 3-4 defense. It's a rare athlete that can play it well... and an even more rare athlete that can play it from a different position like a guy who grew up a 4-3 DE and moved to a 3-4 OLB.

I'll use Rocky McIntosh for example... he was a better than average 4-3 Will. He couldn't play 3-4 ILB. He moved up to St Louis and is playing Will and Sam again and playing very well.

It's not something that everyone can do. He is an OLB.

It's easy to just say that, but others have made the move before. Pitt had moved many guys from outside to inside. Let's not act like is unheard of. I'm not asking him to play qb for heavens sake. Like I keep pointing out, we just made Zo make the move and look good doing it - and thats a guy who was a nt and offensive guard when he came here.

[Thinking Skins]

I think Jackson could play ILB on known pass rush situations but he wouldn't be actually playing ILB as much as he would be a roving rusher.

I think Jackson's skillset is more suited to pass rushing then to ILB and I would be surprised if he could make the transition to every down ILB.

I understand that, and would have completely agreed before this season. But this season he has shown an ability to be a strong tackler as well as good in pass coverage. Given he's not covering the same void of space that an inside backer needs to cover, he's done well in his spots, so I wonder about his abilities to do more.

Ultimately I think we have an option of keeping him and not being forced to play him or Orakpo.

[Chump Bailey]

I think Keenan Robinson is going to make a great ILB in time personally.

We also have an interesting LB in Roddrick Muckelroy to evaluate.

[pjfootballer]

Don't forget, we brought back Bryan Kehl. He was playing VERY good during the preseason. He's back playing special teams and has starting experience at ILB.

[RandyHolt]

The thread that won't die

And to these eyes, Jackson seems like he is trending as a play maker.

It may simply be haslet finally getting creative, like on the Jackson INT. Something you would never see with Rak. Haslet rushes him off the right edge - speed rush to the outside over and over. I hope Haslet lets Rak stunt and put him into better place to make plays, and not just force a step up into the often vacant pocket.

[moondog]

If Jackson continues on his current tear, a smart team is going to offer him a nice contract. Not crazy money, but more than we would be willing to pay a back up, especially due to our cap bind. I doubt he's on the team next year unfortunately.

This is an unfortunate situation that we may be forced to face. The fact is, several of the well run organizations in the league (Pittsburgh, New England) let guys walk every year and recoup what they can in compensatory picks. I don't think we would get even close to fair value for Jackson based on the qualifiers of compensatory picks but if he continues to play well, we may be in a situation similar to Antonio Pierce, where another team simply offers more than we can afford given that Orakpo IS still under contract, we've had money stolen from us, and we have other holes to fill/players to sign.

I am really hoping we are able to retain Jackson and find ways to utilize him and get him on the field a lot with Rak and Kerrigan. But I'm having a hard time being optimistic about us bringing him back. If he finishes the season strongly, he's going to get a few good offers to leave. Perhaps more importantly, those offers will not only be financially wise ones, but they will be with teams where he will get the full-time starting gig and show what he can do as "the man." At 27, he's not getting any younger and he may want the opportunity to show what he can do as the full-time starter somewhere else.

It's kind of a conundrum because while Rak is the better player, as many have pointed out, Jackson is the perfect guy to come in frequently in packages and really have a big impact when all the attention is on Kerrigan and Orakpo. Or hell, maybe Jackson gets blocked and frees up one of those guys. But unless we can really offer him the playing time or a more permanent position/role, that may be what lures him away more than anything.

While I see the point of trying to move him to ILB to keep him on the field, I don't see Fletcher hanging it up after this year and it's not exactly like I'd want us to be taking Riley or Robinson off the field - I think they are both budding young ILB'ers as well, especially Robinson. We finally have an excess of talent at a couple position groups and that's a good thing...judging by around the league though, it seems like some of the better organizations tend to let the excess walk when they can no longer afford them or pay that much for guys that will only play a situation role...

[Bang]

Everyone throwing around the ILB idea for Jackson is making me lose respect for them and their football acumen.

ILB is probably the most mentally and physically demanding position in a 3-4 defense. It's a rare athlete that can play it well... and an even more rare athlete that can play it from a different position like a guy who grew up a 4-3 DE and moved to a 3-4 OLB.

I'll use Rocky McIntosh for example... he was a better than average 4-3 Will. He couldn't play 3-4 ILB. He moved up to St Louis and is playing Will and Sam again and playing very well.

It's not something that everyone can do. He is an OLB.

I'm guessing you've personally worked him out at every position to know what he can and can't do.

It's worth looking at.
Or we could go with the spirit of the thread and say because he can play OLB, then we have to get rid of Orakpo because we simply could not try to find a place for both.

You may well be ultimately correct, but I'd rather try and find a way to hold onto both than just cut one loose because the other exists.

~Bang

[ScottAH87]

LL ‏@HTTR24_7

#Redskins Rob Jackson rated the #1 3-4 OLB in coverage in the NFL by http://ProFootballFocus.com

[BobGriffin]

LL ‏@HTTR24_7

#Redskins Rob Jackson rated the #1 3-4 OLB in coverage in the NFL by http://ProFootballFocus.com

Wow I knew he was good but not THAT good.

[DC9]

It's easy to just say that, but others have made the move before. Pitt had moved many guys from outside to inside. Let's not act like is unheard of. I'm not asking him to play qb for heavens sake. Like I keep pointing out, we just made Zo make the move and look good doing it - and thats a guy who was a nt and offensive guard when he came here.

Lorenzo Alexander is a good example of a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. He plays decently, not good, but decently at the ILB position. But at the end of the day, he is a bigger liability than Fletcher in the pass game and still misses assignments in the running game. He is a fairly lights out tackler, but when you move inside from outside... you gain 2 additional thrids of the field that you now need to concern yourself with and it's not for everyone.

I'm not saying Rob Jackson can't make the move... I'm saying it's not something that we should bank on... especially when it is so hard to find a guy to play outside LB who can set the edge on a rush and who has ball skills like he does. I think a lot of us are looking a gift horse in the mouth here for the sake of not trading Orakpo.

Didn't we go through this with Cooley the last several off seasons?

[mojo]

Lorenzo Alexander is a good example of a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. He plays decently, not good, but decently at the ILB position. But at the end of the day, he is a bigger liability than Fletcher in the pass game and still misses assignments in the running game. He is a fairly lights out tackler, but when you move inside from outside... you gain 2 additional thrids of the field that you know need to concern yourself with and it's not for everyone.

I'm not saying Rob Jackson can't make the move... I'm saying it's not something that we should bank on... especially when it is so hard to find a guy to play outside LB who can set the edge on a rush and who has ball skills like he does. I think a lot of us are looking a gift horse in the mouth here for the sake of not trading Orakpo.

Didn't we go through this with Cooley the last several off seasons?

I'm with you. If we could trade Orakpo and use that money for secondary help. I'd be for it.

[CTskins]

Everyone throwing around the ILB idea for Jackson is making me lose respect for them and their football acumen.

ILB is probably the most mentally and physically demanding position in a 3-4 defense. It's a rare athlete that can play it well... and an even more rare athlete that can play it from a different position like a guy who grew up a 4-3 DE and moved to a 3-4 OLB.

I'll use Rocky McIntosh for example... he was a better than average 4-3 Will. He couldn't play 3-4 ILB. He moved up to St Louis and is playing Will and Sam again and playing very well.

It's not something that everyone can do. He is an OLB.

Vrable (DE at Ohio Sate) played both, as did Bruschi (DE at Arizona) in New England. All three examples are anecdotal, which means exactly nothing.

[skinzwiz]

Are you people really serious?!

Rob Jackson does not make Orakpo expendable by any means. Why would a team trade its one of its primary cornerstones on defense?!

[Alcoholic Zebra]

Are you people really serious?!

Rob Jackson does not make Orakpo expendable by any means. Why would a team trade its one of its primary cornerstones on defense?!

Beats me. The lack of sacks or pressure is a pretty good indication of how badly we need Orakpo back. The point is to trade players when they're leaving their prime, not when they're entering it.