Jay Gruden hired as head coach of the Redskins

Jay Gruden at the Wizards game (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/01/20/jay-gruden-at-the-wizards-game/)

Orakpo stays, no question

Are you serious? I'm done with the Orakpo experiment! The team is 3-13 nobody is beyond reproach. If they can use Jackson/Jenkins combo until one proves a starter or use the draft to get a hybrid OLB (due to the combo 4-3, 3-4 that they run) they'll be fine.

Not so fast my friend...

Rack is not even the best linebacker on this team. I took a look on the NFL stats Lab and compared him first to the linebackers on our team. Brian only had 10 sacks, 1 Interception, 0 FF and 60 tackles. Kerrigan had 9 sacks, 0 ints, 4 forced fumbles, and 66 tackles in a year where Kerrigan admitted that he was hurt.

Ryan Kerrigan to have minor surgery; talks 4-3 - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/4515/kerrigan-to-have-minor-surgery-talks-4-3)

Now let's compare Rack to the best player at his position this year... Robert Quinn had 19 sacks 7 Forced Fumbles and 57 Tackles. The second best ranked free agent at the same position is Jason Worilds. He had 64 tackles, 8 sacks and 2 FF. That is not much of a drop off, also Jason is two years younger.

We could also target Michael Johnson who excelled at OLB in a 3-4 system in 2012.

All this to say that we don't need to overpay Brian Orakpo. I would argue that Perry Riley is a more important sign than Rack. Riley is our leading tackler and averaged 79.8 tackles over his four year span on the team.

Ugh. Educate yourself please. Robert Quinn is a completely invalid comparison, he's a 4-3 DE. Meaning he rushes the passer on every down. Orakpo is a 3-4 LB, meaning sometimes he backs off in coverage. He put up 10 sacks despite not rushing every down.

Worilds is a fine comparison to make, he actually plays the same position as Orakpo. But you have to remember he lines up next to Lawrence Timmons and right behind Brett Keisel, both of those guys are very active and take a lot of pressure off Worilds. In other words, if you put Orakpo on the Steelers in place of Worilds, and put Worilds on the Redskins in place of Orakpo, the spread in sack numbers would be much larger than 8 vs 10.

Orakpo on the Steelers would still be the guy defenses would have to scheme around, and consequently the whole front seven would improve. It wouldn't look too different from when James Harrison was in his prime. Worilds is OK but nobody fears him.

Jay Gruden's deal with Redskins includes rare five guaranteed years - CBSSports.com (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24414015/jay-grudens-deal-with-redskins-includes-rare-five-guaranteed-years)

Jay Gruden's deal with Redskins includes rare five guaranteed years - CBSSports.com (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24414015/jay-grudens-deal-with-redskins-includes-rare-five-guaranteed-years)

Lmao didn't shanny get the same??

Yea he will get basically 4 years to show something in my opinion. Just like Mike.

Jay Gruden's deal with Redskins includes rare five guaranteed years - CBSSports.com (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24414015/jay-grudens-deal-with-redskins-includes-rare-five-guaranteed-years)

Poor thinking by JLC. Sure it's a 5-year guarantee but at only $4M per season I still wouldn't view it as a major commitment to Gruden. Gives him security but I'll bet this doesn't even place him in the top half of head coaching salaries per season.

13 NFL HCs make more than $4 million/year

13 NFL HCs make more than $4 million/year

OK yeah so barely in top half. Even with a guaranteed 5th year I don't see that as an abnormal commitment in any way.

Most 1st time coaches don't get more than 3 guaranteed years