15 Bold Predictions: No. 8: Jadeveon Clowney arrives

You’ll notice the title of this article isn’t ‘Jadeveon Clowney debuts’. The reason for that is a bit obvious, as the former first-overall draft pick made his actual NFL debut last season.

A year ago, Clowney made his debut in Week 1 against the Washington Redskins. Injuries prevented Clowney’s rookie year from being great. In fact, injuries prevented his rookie campaign from even being noteworthy at all.

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Instead, Clowney’s rookie season was simply a footnote of 2014, which featured sensational seasons from first-year players.

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It seems like everybody is forgetting about how talented Clowney is, though. Entering year 2, he’s poised to make a lot of noise on an uber-talented defensive line.

According to ESPN.com’s Tania Ganguli, Clowney underwent microfracture knee surgery in December. The injury was a culmination of another injury Clowney sustained in college. The rare talent was hurt early in his rookie year, suffering a concussion during a preseason practice.

Clowney would also have arthroscopic knee surgery. According to Ganguli, the team knew another knee surgery was possible, but were hoping it wouldn’t be necessary.

Despite the surgeries and the setbacks, Clowney seems ready to go and eager to remind people why he was taken with the first-overall pick.

Clowney has worked his way back from injury, and his hard work was showcased on HBO’s Hard Knocks. As Clowney went through drills, it was clear he was yearning for a real-game atmosphere. That point was driven home when head coach Bill O’Brien said, “You gotta be sick of doing this s—.” O’Brien was referring to the non-contact rehab Clowney has been going through.

Playing on the same defensive unit as J.J. Watt, perhaps the NFL’s most popular player, means Clowney isn’t going to be the superstar. But it also means he’s going to get a lot of chances to get after the quarterback. Teams simply can’t afford to double team Watt and expect nothing to happen to their backfield by way of Texans’ rushers.

Vince Wilfork – who despite his age is still a beast – is a new addition to the squad, and that’s just another piece for offenses to worry about.

Essentially, Clowney is in the best possible situation to succeed. He doesn’t have to deal with pressure of coming in and being a superstar, season-saving player. Instead, he can just come in and play his game.

Coming off the edge as an outside linebacker, Clowney will be a force to be dealt with. One on one, I don’t think there are many tackles who are athletic enough to contend with Clowney for an entire game. Offenses might have to pick their battles and accept the fact that Clowney is going to be a game-wrecking force.

He wasn’t great in coverage last year, and I don’t expect him to be much better, especially considering he’s missing all of the preseason.

However, Clowney wasn’t drafted to be a coverage-first linebacker. He was drafted to bury quarterbacks and running backs in the turf.

Sep 7, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (90) during the game against the Washington Redskins at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Since the guy hasn’t played a meaningful snap in a while, it’s sometimes easy to forget how tremendous of an athlete Clowney is. The 6’6″ phenom ran a 4.53 at the NFL combine, and he’s one of the most explosive players in the league. He’s a freak athlete with a remarkable combination of size, speed and technique. If you need any further proof of how good he can be, just go check out what he did in the 2013 Outback Bowl.

He’s a beast and he has all of the tools to be a force in the NFL. I think Clowney has the potential to be a double-digit sack guy in year 2. I also expect him to develop into one of the league’s best pure pass-rushing linebackers, which is what the Texans envisioned he could become when they drafted him.

Clowney has been getting instruction from a former Super Bowl winning linebacker, too.

“The one thing I’ve noticed is his attitude is better,” said Mike Vrabel, according to the Texans’ official website. Vrabel is in his second year as the team’s linebackers coach. “His attitude is much better, and I know that last year he was frustrated because he got hurt… I think he’s starting to realize he’s going to have to play with discomfort, he’s going to be sore, for the rest of his career. That’s how it goes in the National Football

It’s a give-and-take relationship, and Clowney is benefiting from it.

“Vrabel might be the smartest coach I ever had,” Clowney said. “He’s a smart coach, he’ll put you in the right places to make plays, and you need a guy like that to help you.”

Truth be told, Vrabel is indeed a smart coach, and he’ll likely know the best place to line up Clowney. Whether that position be as a stand-up rusher or with his hand in the dirt.

Quite frankly, anything would be an improvement over his rookie year. But I seriously think Clowney has a chance to emergence onto the scene in a big way. It’s not crazy to say he’s the X-factor of that defense. If he can return healthy and generate pressure on the quarterback, this unit has a chance to be great.

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