Ten Yard Fight: Let's All Hold Brian Orakpo at the Reed Doughty Lovefest

Oh and this was a good post. I like Reed, it’s up to coaches to put any player in a position to succeed according to their skill set.

I keep saying it but he really doesn’t get held more than many of the other top rushers. They are just better at getting off blocks and keeping players hands off them than he is.
He tries the same thing on every play and while the will get called occasionally he has to work on other ways of beating a man or he will continue to just be a decent rusher.

We are going to turn blue in the face talking about how often Orakpo is held with no flag. After the talk about his MMA training this off-season, he needs to start getting out of those holds. It’s only a hold if it gets called, and he obviously doesn’t have enough league respect yet to get those calls.

I hear what you are saying about Doughty, but he was clearly the weak spot in our secondary. I wish Landry a speedy recovery. NFL Network does not need a new play starring Doughty to show us every commercial break for the next year.

is that he showed when going 1 on 1 against the C he has great agility to get off the line and round his man.
If he can keep it up (and we know it’s a big if) we may not see him get many more sacks because of the added attention he will be getting but that could free up some of the other guys to make some plays.

When Doughty messes up, I’m usually biting my tongue trying to keep the “F” bombs from flying (I have a 5 year old and a 4 month old, both girls). Yet, when someone else misses an easy pass or a tackle, I try to justify their mistake, regardless of if he is a starter or what. This post got me thinking. Yeah, Doughty is not the best starter, but like you said he is not our normal starter. He is a place holder until the starters are healthy, and in that respect, once you think about it he does a pretty damn good job. I am gonna try harder to appreciate the work that man puts into every game, because he deserves it.

about Doughty last night. He was slamming him as well, too. Reed is more of a SS than a FS and belongs close to the line. He won’t lay a punishing hit like LL but he’s a sure tackler. Coverage is NOT his strongest attribute and yes he sometimes gets burned. Anyone remember LL during the Philly game last year?

but as a backup. He played every defensive snap and all of the special teams snaps last game. I wish Landry and some other guys had the durability of Doughty. He is like a beagle, not the fastest hunting dog, not the smartest hunting dog, not the biggest hunting dog, but hell he never gives up, is always there ready to go and does what he does. Ill take a pack of beagles anyday.

I have come to love Coughlin’s faces. Reminds me, unfortunately for the Giants, of the faces Zorn and Gibbs used to make when the Redskins made some bonehead play.

He is by no means a combine freak but u play him n the box and he can accel, they put him in situations where he has to learn to play it safe instead of trying to make a play like when he bit on the double move, I think he shud b used more as a blitzer and less as a deep zone/last line of defense…

If so, it won’t repeat often. A good guy to have around, excellent tackler.

     you should never knock him. As the Coach/Empoyer/Supervisor, it’s your job to replace him or change his job to something he can handle. I think all the quotes above agree that Doughty is doing the best he can with his available skills.

   Thanks for that article Ken, I think it was needed.

initially, he was a very good player, but he was completely abused in the Giants game. His best days are past. He has not played well of recent and that is all there is to it. Recent being since I can’t remember when. The Redskins need the best players they can get and I find it hard to believe they can not get a better SS than him. I would see if Horton is healthy. That is how I think of Doughty right now.

Yes he is a backup. Yes backups shouldn’t be held to the same standard as starters.

But reed is almost a starter. If a backup has to play half the season, year in and year out, he needs to be better than the backup that never sees playing time.

If the staff expects Landry to be hampered by injuries and require a backup to start frequently, then it’s their job to make sure that is a good backup.

No one cares If fletchers backup is a drop off, cuz fletch neve misses a game. But if you are EXPECTING a starter to miss significant time regularly, his backup needs to be good

Don’t get us wrong.. I’m sure every fan respects Reed Doughty and appreciates the blue collar attitude and work ethic he’s brought to Washington for 6 years.

With that being said that doesn’t make him “untouchable” to our criticism. If he doesn’t play well then by all means let him have it!! Jason Campbell worked hard, was a great teammate and was as professional as they come.. Didn’t matter much when it came him being criticized, did it? Why is Doughty untouchable but JC isn’t?

Obviously, you can criticize whomever you want to. But if you think about it, as this article points out, we know what we get with Doughty, same person year after year. You really should only criticize Doughty if he’s not doing something that he’s capable of doing. That’s not the case with Reed.
So instead, criticize the other safeties that we’ve brought in over the past 6 years, as they couldn’t make the Skins release Doughty. Criticize the personnel department for not having found a more competent replacement than Doughty. Criticize the coaches for calling plays that put Doughty in the position to have to cover players that he doesn’t have the capability to cover consistently.
I would argue that you should respect Doughty, cause all he does is keep fighting. And as a backup, all he does is keep winning a roster spot. You have to admire that.

I’m just saying…

He’s a great guy. Last summer at training camp he went out of his way to say hi to my little guys (5 and 6 yrs old now) and sign their footballs. All while his ‘handler’ was telling him he had to go. He has two lifelong fans…

good post. Problem is that because Doughty is a backup everyone expects him to be a good strong safety and a good free safety. He’s without question an above average backup strong safety. Probably 20 teams would take him over their backup strong safety. But we also expect him to be excellent covering elite WRs downfield. Laron Landry wasn’t an especially good free safety when he played back there. But now Laron only has to play his good position. Laron’s an above average starter. Doughty is an above average backup. Neither is great when covering a good WR.

About time someone points out how valuable Reed has been for the skins.
Nield, I’ve rooted for him since he was our last pick. Just something gritty and blue collar about him. Orakpo, is held often. We see it, why don’t the officials? Confused.
I think too the men who are going to be blocking him in the upcoming games are being reminded, of all the ways you can hold a guy and get away with it.