McNair Talks Clowney

[HPF Bob]

CBS Sports.com (http://http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft-scout/24409092/nfl-draft-texans-mcnair-envisions-clowneywatt-tandem)

McNair looks like he's running interference for Rick Smith and Bill O'Brien this off-season. First he talks about trading down. Then he talks about drafting Clowney. Eventually, he'll get around to drafting a QB if the Texans are going that way.

I kinda think McNair wants to trade down but he needs to find a partner. Maybe he really wants Manzeil.

McNair better be careful though when he talks the "black athlete (Clowney) ...natural while white athlete (Watt)... worked hard" to be a star. That could rankle some people.

[Keith]

Either McNair really likes his Cocks or he is selling hard to get someone to move up for Clowney.

I tend to believe the latter.

[nunusguy]

I don't think the Texans find a partner to trade their number one pick with because there's just not the QB in this years Draft that has the appeal of a prospect like RGIII did for the Redskins a couple years ago.

[Keith]

I don't think so either, which is why McNair is talking about Clowney and not a QB. If he really wanted Clowney, I wouldn't expect him to say a peep.

Expressing interest in Clowney like this hopefully builds a market for a player he's not interested in if there's a trade to be made, and it hopefully helps him negotiate a contract with a QB (like Teddy B-H20) using another viable alternative like Clowney as leverage.

[Warren]

Smokescreen or not, McNair could get dinged by the NFL for tampering. McNair made his public comments on the 14th at the latest. Clowney is an underclassman. He declared for the draft but he has until 72 hours after the deadline to declare (which was on the 15th) to change his mind. Clowney hasn't been designated as draft-eligible yet, so that's tampering.

[Nconroe]

The Houstontexans.com news website has quite a bit of coverage on Teddy Bridgewater today. Claim they will cover one of top picks each week, but Bridgewater is going first.

From the writeup Bridgewater sounds pretty good.

[Nconroe]

I have heard lots of people mention Clowney as first pick including on this board way before McNair mentioned it

If we don't trade down then maybe we do take Clowney.

I guess we will hear lots of ideas for no 1 pick in May draft.

[nunusguy]

The 2014 NFL Scouting Combine has its headline attraction. South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney told The State he will participate in all drills next month in Indianapolis. "The numbers I am going to put up are going to be amazing," Clowney said.

Clowney previously said he ran an electronically timed 4.46 40-yard dash, which would have ranked third among running backs and tied for 11th among wide receivers at the 2013 combine. The difference, of course, is Clowney is 6-foot-6 and has a good 70-90 pounds on those skill position players.

NFL Media analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks each have the Houston Texans taking Clowney with the No. 1 overall pick in their initial mock drafts.

If Clowney lives up to the immense expectations and runs anywhere close to a sub-4.5 40, all the suspense of the draft with start with the second pick because the top spot will be locked up.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000314757/article/jadeveon-clowney-to-participate-in-all-nfl-combine-drills

[HPF Bob]

If Clowney lives up to the immense expectations and runs anywhere close to a sub-4.5 40, all the suspense of the draft with start with the second pick because the top spot will be locked up.

Not sure I buy this. We already passed on Peppers for a quarterback. Might history repeat itself?

[popanot]

Clowney is the wildcard in this draft because talent and value-wise he's above and beyond anyone other than the big 3 QB prospects. It sucks that JAX and CLE are at #3 and #4 and need QB. Had ATL ended up with pick #3 it would've increased our trade down options considerably as I could see them potentially wanting to leapfrog STL for Clowney and we'd still have our choice between at least two of the Bridgewater/Manziel/Bortles trio. ATL at #6 is too far down for them to be an option.

As it is now we're screwed because STL has no incentive to move up and we're not going to trade with JAX at #3. Trading with CLE would be somewhat risky, but if you rank the 3 QB's close to each other and you're willing to settle on the one QB that's left or Clowney, I guess it could be an option.

Personally, I just don't see a scenario where we move down so it's either Clowney or the QB of our choice at #1.

[nunusguy]

Clowney is the wildcard in this draft because talent and value-wise he's above and beyond anyone other than the big 3 QB prospects. It sucks that JAX and CLE are at #3 and #4 and need QB. Had ATL ended up with pick #3 it would've increased our trade down options considerably as I could see them potentially wanting to leapfrog STL for Clowney and we'd still have our choice between at least two of the Bridgewater/Manziel/Bortles trio. ATL at #6 is too far down for them to be an option.

As it is now we're screwed because STL has no incentive to move up and we're not going to trade with JAX at #3. Trading with CLE would be somewhat risky, but if you rank the 3 QB's close to each other and you're willing to settle on the one QB that's left or Clowney, I guess it could be an option.

Personally, I just don't see a scenario where we move down so it's either Clowney or the QB of our choice at #1.
Me neither, because Andrew Luck or Payton Manning clearly isn't in this Draft, but caveat emptor, Jack locker or worse yet Blain Gabbert might be in this Draft. Actually, both of them might be in the 2014 Draft.
So who is Clowney ? Less risky than Bruce Irving but far more talented than the Seahawks edge-rusher because hey, besides being a steller pass-rusher he can play the run and he's system versatile.

[popanot]

Interesting following the mocks and what the twitter draft pundits are saying. It seems most of them have us taking Clowney now. I'm OK with Clowney, Bridgewater, Bortels, or Manziel as long as the Texans are confident he's the guy and they show they have a plan in place. I think I'm more concerned with the later RD picks and building back a solid foundation.

[nunusguy]

FWIW listening to 610 radio from NYC for SB week and guest Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says many in the league think the Texans take Clowney.
Here's a little clip of Clowney anchoring his high scholl relay team.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/23330529/video-watch-jadeveon-clowney-run-the-4x100-relay

[Warren]

Clowney scares me. It’s not just the drop-off in production, but also the cracks from Spurrier about Clowney checking himself out because he was a little dinged up when Spurrier clearly believed he could have played. Last year the Texans took another SEC DE/OLB whose his commitment had been publicly questioned by one of his college coaches and that didn’t work out so well.

I don’t know much about the author (Russ Lande), but check out this scouting report (http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/67309122/2014-nfl-draft-jadeveon-clowney-elite-defensive-skills-inconsistent) on Clowney – very detailed, and apparently based on careful film study and discussions with scouts. It has links to reports on Bridgewater, Manziel, and some of the other top guys.