Dec. 12--Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Ryan Kerrigan was drafted in the first round in 2011 (16th overall) and is among the many talented pass rushers from a class that also produced J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Justin Houston, Robert Quinn and Aldon Smith.
The 27-year-old, 6-foot-4, 260-pounder, who leads the Redskins with 6 1/2 sacks, has not missed a game in his career and earned a $57.5 million, five-year extension at the start of training camp after posting a career-high 13 1/2 sacks last season. He's tied for the team lead with 13 tackles for loss and has 20 quarterback pressures. He has 16 forced fumbles in his career.
"He has really good burst off the ball and he has pretty good upper body strength," one scout said. "Pretty good with his hands. He's a guy who brings a lot of different counter moves and that should be a pretty good matchup against Kyle Long. I think he's one of the more underrated pass rushers in the league and part of that is probably because he plays for a bad team. But really you have to give the Redskins credit because they took a college outside linebacker at Purdue and made him into a really productive pass rusher.
"I met with him before the draft and he's a really smart guy. Smart football player.
"Sometimes he gets washed up the field. He runs the corner so hard that a tackle can drop step and kick and throw him by. Sometimes he's going to lose contain and that can be a problem against Jay Cutler because that is where the Bears' big plays have come from, Cutler stepping up, sliding in the pocket and someone getting open downfield. (But) they're not really a deep-ball offense.
"Kerrigan is decent vs. the run. He's not dominant but he can set the edge and they are paying him to get to the quarterback."
