Washington Redskins: 8 Players Who Need to Step Up for Week 2

The Washington Redskins rebounded from a slow start to topple the New York Giants 28-14 in their season opener. A few familiar names stepped up for Washington, as did a few of the new faces on the roster.

Arizona is coming off of an unexpectedly tough win over Carolina and will look to fix the problems the young Panthers exploited.

If the Redskins want to move to 2-0 on the season with a win over the Arizona Cardinals, here are the players that need to step up in Week 2.

Brian Orakpo, Outside Linebacker

Brian Orakpo was having a quiet day against the Giants, failing to register a sack on Eli Manning. However, he managed to block a field goal that put the momentum of the game firmly behind the Redskins.

With the Cardinals being a pass-first team, Orakpo will need to step up and put pressure on Kevin Kolb to force bad throws and keep the ball out of Larry Fitzgerald's hands. The Cardinals have dangerous tight ends in Jeff King and Todd Heap, but Orakpo won't likely be in coverage more than he is rushing the passer.

Washington's defense finished strong against New York, but will have to get pressure on Kolb to keep Fitzgerald out of the game and the Cardinals off the scoreboard.

Trent Williams, Tackle

Trent Williams may be on the list of players who suffered from the offseason lockout. As a rookie, he struggled with blitz pickup and lacked consistency in pass protection. Without proper coaching throughout the offseason, Williams picked up where he left off last season.

Williams won't be facing as tough a test in terms of Arizona's defensive line, but will need to step up to keep Rex Grossman clean from backside rushers.

Though most of Arizona's sacks were produced by blitzes from the secondary, Williams must learn to identify where the rush is coming from and adjust accordingly. He can't get caught trying to put a chip on a blitzing corner or safety and then trying to get back to blocking his own man.

DeAngelo Hall, Cornerback

The notorious route jumper DeAngelo Hall will have to bring his A-Game's A-Game to have any chance at stopping Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had a quiet three catch, 62-yard day against Carolina, but can only be contained for so long.

Hall will have to keep Fitzgerald in front of him and hope Kevin Kolb makes some early mistakes Hall can take advantage of.

As demonstrated against the Giants, Hall cannot trust his safety help to be there for him. Jim Haslett may have no choice but to put Hall on an island or roll coverage to Fitzgerald in hopes that it forces Kolb and the Cardinals to shy away. Hall absolutely must stick to Fitzgerald and not jump at pump fakes or rely on help over the top.

Hall is outmatched in terms of physicality against Fitzgerald and will have to play smart.

Josh Wilson, Cornerback

With DeAngelo Hall wrapped up with Larry Fitzgerald, Josh Wilson will have his hands equally full with Early Doucet. Doucet led the Cardinals in receiving last week, with three catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Wilson did a good job keep Mario Manningham to a quiet four catches for 49 yards, but will have to do much better against Arizona.

Kevin Kolb is still an inexperienced quarterback and prone to mistakes of young quarterbacks. Safety OJ Atogwe will likely be wrapped up in help coverage on Fitzgerald, so Wilson will have to deal with Doucet one-on-one. If the Redskins can provide pressure up front, and rush Kolb into a few bad throws, Wilson should be able to get comfortable.

The important thing for Wilson is to simply contain Doucet, because he is likely to get plenty of targets if Jim Haslett doubles Fitzgerald regularly.

Tim Hightower, Running Back

Tim Hightower's regular season debut with the Redskins didn't go as swimmingly as his preseason performance. He ground out a tough 72 yards on 25 carries with a touchdown and caught three passes for 25 yards.

The Cardinals aren't as stout against the run as the Giants, but pose a different problem for Hightower and the Redskins.

Hightower hit every hole hard against the Giants, though perhaps he could have cut outside a few times for better results. Against Arizona, he will have to bring his best blocking game, as three of the Cardinals four sacks came from their secondary. He was decent during preseason in blitz pickup, but will have to improve his decision making in picking up the right defender.

No team can really afford to take too many sacks, but the Redskins need Rex Grossman to focus on his progressions and not how much the next hit is going to hurt.

Barry Cofield, Nose Tackle

Barry Cofield played as well as can be expected for an undersized nose tackle playing the position for the first time. It doesn't help that rookie Chris Neild produced two sacks from the nose tackle position, but Cofield wasn't doing much in run support.

The Cardinals ran the ball just 21 times last week, but got 100 yards out of Beanie Wells and Larod Stephens-Howling.

Cofield is responsible for eating up space and occupying multiple blockers, but was effectively handled with one blocker against the Giants. Cofield will have to adjust on the fly if he expects to keep his job with the way Neild played last week.

The Redskins can't afford to lose the battle up front, especially if the Cardinals tear them up through the air.

Fred Davis, Tight End

Fred Davis caught five passes for a career-high 105 yards against the Giants and has proven to be the only valuable player from the Redskins 2008 draft class. With Chris Cooley limited last week and working towards 100 percent, Davis will likely have plenty of opportunities to make an even bigger impact against the Cardinals.

The Cardinals allowed Panthers tight ends to catch seven passes for 129 yards last week.

Davis has never lacked talent, but rather consistency. Aside from one season playing in relief of an injured Cooley, Davis has either struggled to get on the field or struggled to put two productive games together. If the Cardinals get their offense going, the Redskins will need a big day from Davis to keep pace.

Jabar Gaffney, Wide Receiver

Jabar Gaffney had a decent day against the Giants, finishing with three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. However, he dropped a few passes that he shouldn't have, and the Redskins can't afford their No. 2 receiver dropping anything.

The receiving load fell to Santana Moss, and the Redskins specifically acquired Gaffney to open things up for Moss.

Gaffney is supposed to be the Redskins possession receiver more than anything else, but it was Moss running all the routes at the sticks when the pressure was one. Gaffney needs to step up and fill that role so Moss can be as versatile as he has proven throughout his career.