The 5-year veteran has been the mainstay of this Washington Redskins defense. Ryan Kerrigan has been the building block to a young core group of guys and is the leader that younger teammates are watching and learning from. He’s the man that they go to for intel on what the coaches are expecting. This is a role that he has come to love, however, as Kerrigan no longer has to have the world on his shoulders. The Redskins have finally made some offseason moves to help him out.

An interesting fact about Kerrigan is that he is partially deaf in his left ear. Astoundingly, this has no effect on his pro game. The two-time Pro Bowler has proven himself time and time again. His tackles per season have steadily gone up each year as well as his sacks. Last year, Kerrigan had 64 tackles with 13.5 sacks. The big stat for Kerrigan is that he had five forced fumbles.

Maybe an even bigger element that he brings to the table is his durability. Kerrigan has not missed a game in his whole NFL career and he’s been the one consistent factor that the Redskins can count on every week. Regardless of who the Redskins brought in, Kerrigan is the leader and the face of this defense. He has carried it thus far and that is not changing any time soon.

New defensive coordinator Joe Barry will still be running a 3-4 defense. Not the basic two-gap scheme, but more of a one-gap scheme. This will allow the defense to play more forcefully, especially on the line. It also permits for the defensive front to focus specifically on one gap. In turn, each player knows exactly where to attack, and they can do so more aggressively. This type of defense calls for more blitzing, which happens to be what Kerrigan is exceptional at. With the additions of Terrance Knighton, and Stephen Paea; Kerrigan should get more one on one looks and less double teams. With this at hand, Kerrigan should be able to increase his sack total. He should be around the 15-18 sack range this coming season. This is a scary thought for opposing offenses, even if the Redskins don’t have one of the top defenses in the league.

Kerrigan is certainly a star to be reckoned with. Picking up his option for this coming season was the smartest things the Redskins could do. Let’s hope nothing senseless happens in the nearby future for the Redskins. Kerrigan has proven to the city, his teammates, and the organization that he deserves a substantial new long-term deal. The NFL needs to get ready because Kerrigan is in for a career year this coming season.