Brian Orakpo was perhaps the most physically dominant Texas defensive end we have ever seen. Orakpo’s unique strength earned him a SportsCenter feature detailing just how measurably strong was the Longhorns edge rusher.
The segment opened in the following way.
“When Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo got to Austin, he said he was frail. … Since then, Orakpo has added 50 pounds of muscle while maintaining eight percent body fat. The man they call Rak says his favorite actor is Robert De Niro. And once you see this guy, you’re definitely gonna wanna stay inside his circle of trust.”
In the feature, Orakpo shared his unreal lifting numbers in the weight room. Among them were a 515-pound bench press, an over 600-pound squat and a power clean at approximately 380 pounds. It’s the kind of pound-for-pound strength that has been few and far between on the Forty Acres in recent seasons.
Texas has made welcome strides in strength since strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton started implementing more heavy lifting. If the Longhorns are looking to return to prominence, building more players like Orakpo should be the goal.