Commander Country

Summer Spotlight - Troy Apke

Troy Apke enters his 3rd NFL season. Could a breakout be on the horizon for the former Penn State Safety?

Ivan Lambert

Let’s get back to actual NFL Football, shall we?

Our next edition of the Washington NFL 'Summer Spotlight' is Safety, Troy Apke.

His speed in high school meant he ran the 100, 200 and 400 meters in Track and Field.

No doubt Troy Apke knew how to run with the best of NCAA division 1 athletes; yet, Apke, was considered talented but raw even in college, only starting his final season at Penn State.

This same trend for Apke has continued into his NFL career.

Two NFL seasons are in the books for the young, speedy free safety.

He has exhibited great straight-line speed, has been a special teams’ asset streaking down the field faster than most in the league and should be commended for his efforts.

Yet, the 2018 fourth-round draft selection surely feels the pressure of knowing the reality that this is his third NFL season, and he needs to get more time in the defensive lineup if there is going to be a second contract, following the 2021 season.

Inside the Numbers:

Troy Apke (age 24) was born April 11, 1985 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Playing his high school football at Mt Lebanon in Pittsburgh, Apke, became the first alumnus of Mt Lebanon to make it to the NFL.

Playing safety at Penn State (2014-17), in his sophomore season, Apke contributed 26 tackles (14 solo, 12 assisted) and one defended pass.

One season later in his junior year, Apke was in on 28 tackles (11 solo and 17 assisted), intercepting one pass.

Apke’s final college season (2017), Apke increased his tackles to 54 (37 solo and 17 assisted) including three for a loss, while also defending four passes and intercepting one.

Not overly impressive numbers for a college safety aspiring to play in the NFL.

However, then came the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.

At that combine, Apke measured 6-foot-2, weighing 198 pounds, benching 225 pounds 16 times.

It was again his feet that caught NFL scouts attention.

Apke ran a 4.34 40-yard dash, a 4.03 Shuttle and an even more impressive 6.56 Cone Drill.

If speed wasn’t enough, Apke displayed quite the jumping ability going 41 inches in the Vertical Jump and 131 inches in the Broad Jump.

The speed and explosion of Apke displayed in that combine impressed Washington scouts; thus, in the 2018 NFL Draft Washington knowing they needed to become more athletic, selected Apke in the fourth round (109 overall).

However, after two seasons, Apke has yet to display in a football uniform as much as he did in shorts and T-shirt in the scouting combine.

He did appear in 15 games in 2019, starting two, while collecting his first NFL interception in a home game against San Francisco, displaying his open field speed, returning it for 33 yards down the right sideline.

In Apke’s defense, after not receiving any defensive snaps in the first five games he did contribute six tackles in the game against San Francisco (five of which were solo) and had a season-high seven tackles (6 solo) in a week nine loss at Buffalo.

Monte Nicholson received the vast majority of defensive snaps at free-safety last season, and it cannot be ignored that after releasing Nicholson, Washington then signed free-safety Sean Davis in the off- season and drafted Arkansas Razorback safety Kamren Curl.

Curl however at only 4.6 speed seems to be more fitted for an in-the-box safety assignment.

By way of comparison, Pro Football Focus graded the highest seasons for current Washington safeties as Landon Collins - 2017 (82.3) Troy Apke - 2019 (74.1) Sean Davis - 2018 (69.7).

Approaching the launching of the 2020 Training Camp, and the maximum limit of a 90-man team roster, Apke remains the only player on the Washington roster who played his college ball at Penn State.

The former Nittany Lion safety, signed a four-year contract with Washington worth $3,163,636 on May 10, 2018 in which he received a $703,636 signing bonus.

His base salary of 2019 being $570,000 now grows in his third NFL season to $750,000.

Along with his prorated signing bonus which stretches over the four years of his contract, his total 2020 cap hit for Washington thus becomes $925,909, per OvertheCap.com. 

Video Analysis / Highlights:

Trevor Matich on the Redskins drafting Troy Apke in the 2018 NFL Draft

Content is unavailable

Troy Apke’s first NFL interception (2019 vs San Francisco)

Troy Apke sticking his nose in there on a goal-line defense

What They’re Saying:

Upon Apke being drafted in the 2018 NFL 4th Round

“At this point in the draft you want guys who can do one thing exceptionally well, and Apke is exceptionally fast…The [Washington NFL Franchise] drafted a guy in the fourth round that gives them one exceptional talent, and that is the man can run.” - NBC Sports Washington Analyst Trevor Matich

“Troy Apke has been playing really well in the absence of Montae Nicholson.” - Washington former Interim Head Coach Bill Callahan in 2019 season.

“Deshazor Everett, Troy Apke and Ryan Anderson…their work on special teams, defense and their presence in the locker room is unmatched.” - Washington long-snapper Nick Sundberg in 2019 season

Mike Clay's 2020 Projection:

Mike Clay Redskins Stats Projection ESPN
Mike Clay - ESPN Twitter

Apke is projected to play 361 snaps per Mike Clay of ESPN. 29 tackles and 0.9 interceptions on defense is what the computers say. He also contributes significantly on special teams. 

For more Washington NFL "Summer Spotlight" features - click on the players below.

Dwayne Haskins - Quarterback

Montez Sweat - Defensive End/Edge

Ryan Kerrigan - Defensive End/Edge

J.D. McKissic - Running Back

Jon Bostic - Linebacker

Dustin Hopkins - Place Kicker

Ronald Darby - Cornerback

Tress Way - Punter

Terry McLaurin - Wide Receiver

Jonathan Allen - Defensive Lineman

Landon Collins - Safety

Caleb Brantley - Defensive Lineman

Cole Holcomb - Linebacker

Steven Sims Jr. - Wide Receiver

Nick Sundberg - Long Snapper

Kendall Fuller - Cornerback

Ryan Anderson - Linebacker/DE

Fabian Moreau - Cornerback

Jimmy Moreland - Cornerback

Adrian Peterson - Running Back

Geron Christian - Offensive Tackle

Ivan Lambert is a lifelong die-hard Washington Redskins fan, raised in Berryville, Virginia. He is married and the father of two fine young men. He is currently a sports correspondent for The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida and can be found on Twitter @IvanLambert18

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Ivan Lambert
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