Redskins Players Who Are Poised For A Breakout Year

For the Redskins to continue their progress toward becoming a true superbowl threat they need to continue to develop their younger players. Like Trent Williams last year there a couple

who seem to be set to have a breakout year. Hopefully, they will be able to have the same amount of success.

Brain Orakpo

Brian Orakpo

- Orakpo is returning from a torn pectoral muscle which kept him sidelined for most of the 2012 season. Going into last year there was a lot of hype surrounding his offseason work to add more passrush moves to his arsenal. Expectations where high and the thought was that maybe this year was the Orakpo finally shows that he belongs in the conversation as one of the premiere passrushers in the NFL. But in the second game of the season he gets hurt putting all of that hope to rest. Once again there has been a lot of talk about Orakpo but this time he has a little extra motivation. 2013 is his contract year and if he does not perform or is injured the likely hood of the Redskins resigning him seems small. However, Orakpo seems to have the right mindset so far. Reports out of camp so far are that he is working harder than anyone else out there. Not to mention he has sky high expectations telling USA Today Sports "I worked extremely hard this offseason and Defensive Player of the Year is ver obtainable." Ultimately, most Redskins fans would be more than happy for Orakpo to have a All-Pro or even just a Pro Bowl year. But it is good to hear that he has set his goals high and is willing to work hard to get there. I honestly believe Orakpo has all the talent needed to be a DPOY and really expect him to make a big step this season.
Optimistic Stat Prediction: 65 Tackles, 13.5 Sacks, 3 FF

Leonard Hankerson

-Hankerson was drafted with the idea that he had the ability to develop into a strong starting WR in the NFL. In college he broke Michael Irvin's single season TD record at the University of Miami and with that gave fans like me hope that maybe the Redskins could have a receiving core that was feared again. Last year he played all 16 games catching 38 balls for 543 yards and 3 touchdowns. While these stats are seem underwhelming, he was the third on the team in receiving yards and caught the highest percentage of his targets out of the 4 main receivers. Being Hankerson's third year in the NFL, which is a key year for receivers, he is expected to improve significantly. Reports so far say that he has been playing well during drills. I think he has some talent and can definitely become a strong complement to Garçon this year.

Leonard Hankerson

Optimistic Stat Prediction: 44 receptions, 630 yards, 6 touchdowns