Houston Texans closer look: Jadeveon Clowney
We have had nearly a week to take in the Houston Texas’ No. 1 overall selection of Jadeveon Clowney, in what was a very successful defensive draft for the Texans, especially for their defense.
Clowney will bring more athleticism to the Texans’ defense and some solid help for defensive end J.J. Watt in what I believe will be the toughest defense in the AFC South.
In what will be the 3-4 defense the Texans will run, the Texans can use Clowney on the ground and at defensive end, depending on what they want to do in a given situation.
His draft profile described him as:
"“A physical specimen with a rare size-speed combination, Clowney was not as impactful as a junior while playing through injuries and being forced to deal with opposing offenses that fully accounted for him with extra chip protection.”"
In Houston, he’ll have plenty of help surrounding him with not only (in my opinion) the best defensive end in the NFL, Watt, but Brian Cushing at inside linebacker, Brooks Reed at inside linebacker and Whitney Mercilus as another defensive end.
In college at South Carolina, his best year was his 2012 junior season, where he recorded 54 total tackles (40 solo) with 13 sacks. That season, 23.5 of his tackles were for a loss.
His senior year saw the production drop with 40 tackles (28 solo) as 11.5 were for a loss and there were also three sacks.
This pass rush of the Texans just from those players are going to be tough, and I haven’t even mentioned rookie nose tackle Louis Nix III filling up a lot of space with his 300-plus-pound frame on the interior line.
In his introductory press conference, Clowney said:
"“I don’t think there could be a greater situation for me overall because I’m back with the guys that I know. I am working one of the best, if not the best defensive lineman in (the) NFL, and one of the best linebackers in (Brian Cushing) as a leader, which is going to help my game to go to the next level, in which I am so excited about because I’m getting to learn from (these) guys.”"
Like I’ve been saying for a while now, his draft profile read:
"“Will immediately upgrade a defensive line and improve the production of those around him.”"
That’s what the Texans need … improvement from those around Clowney. If this does all work out as planned, the Texans won’t be finishing with 14 straight losses like last season.
This is going to be fun to watch, and Clowney was absolutely the right choice for the Texans at No. 1 overall.