Brian Orakpo is a linebacker and defensive end for the Washington Redskins, who selected him with the 13th overall pick in the NFL Draft. Orakpo finished his five-year career with the Texas Longhorns by winning the 2008 Lombardi Award as the best lineman or linebacker in the nation. Brian Orakpo is 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weighs 260 pounds.

At Lamar High School in Houston, Orakpo was a star defensive end and tight end. He was ranked as the 12th best defensive end in the country by rivals.com, and considered Texas A&M, Colorado, Houston, Missouri and Stanford before signing with Texas. Despite missing part of his senior season due to injury, he recorded nine sacks and was named first team all-district. Orakpo also played basketball for Lamar as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

Orakpo redshirted the 2004 season, then played all 13 games as a freshman in 2005. He recorded two tackles and a forced fumble in his college debut against Louisiana-Lafayette and finished the season with 27 tackles, four for a loss. He had one tackle each in both the Big 12 Championship Game and the Rose Bowl, as Texas won the National Championship. After the season, Orakpo was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, and earned national Defensive Freshman of the Year honors from The Sporting News.

As a sophomore, Orakpo once again played all 13 games, recording 26 tackles, six for a loss. He also increased his sack total from 0.5 as a freshman to 4.5. He had two of his sacks in the season opener against North Texas, the first multi-sack game of his career.

Orakpo's junior season was slowed by a right knee injury he suffered in the season opener against Arkansas State. He missed the next four games, returning as a reserve against Oklahoma. He made three solo tackles in that game, and then returned to the starting lineup the next week, where he remained for the rest of the season. He finished the season with a career-high 5.5 sacks, despite playing a career-low nine games. Orakpo capped off the season with the best performance of his career, recording six tackles (three for loss) and two sacks in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona State. Orakpo was named the Defensive MVP of the 2008 Holiday Bowl.

Orakpo again suffered a knee injury as a senior, but still put together a strong enough resume to win a number of national awards. He finished with 38 tackles and a team-high 11.5 sacks in 12 games. He was hurt in Texas's loss to Texas Tech, missing the second half of that game. He was then held out of the following game against Baylor, and played sparingly against Kansas. He returned to the starting lineup for the regular season finale against Texas A&M, recording five total tackles (three for loss) and 1.5 sacks in the Longhorns win. He was a consensus first team All-America selection and won the Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player), the Hendricks Award (best defensive end) and Lombardi Award (best lineman or linebacker). He was also named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

At the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine, Orakpo suffered a hamstring injury while running the 40-yard dash, but it did not affect his availablity in 2009.

Orakpo was selected in the first round (13th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. On his 23rd birthday, one day after the start of Redskins training camp, Orakpo signed a five-year/$20M contract with Washington, including $12M in guaranteed money.

Orakpo immediately joined the Redskins starting lineup as an outside linebacker. He recorded his first career sack in Week 2, and had a combined seven sacks in the Redskins first 12 games of the season. In Week 14 against the Raiders, Orakpo tied a Redskins record with four sacks, one shy of the NFL rookie record. Orakpo was selected to the Pro Bowl, making him the only NFC rookie to earn a Pro Bowl roster spot. He finished his rookie season with 50 total tackles and 11.0 sacks, matching Andre Carter for the team lead.