With The First Pick
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Potential Jadeveon Clowney signing should not impact Browns draft plans

By Sam Penix

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 05: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Seattle Seahawks looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 05, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 05: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Seattle Seahawks looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 05, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 05: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Seattle Seahawks rushes the passer against Jason Peters #71 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFC Wild Card game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 5, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 05: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Seattle Seahawks rushes the passer against Jason Peters #71 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFC Wild Card game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 5, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Why Cleveland makes sense for Clowney

Drafted first overall in 2014, Clowney had an immense, almost unprecedented, amount of hype entering the league. During his sophomore season at South Carolina, he logged 13 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles. He was just bigger, faster, and stronger than anyone else at the collegiate level. He was so dominant that there was much talk about him sitting out his entire junior year to protect himself against injury, as he was already practically guaranteed to be the first player taken.

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Clowney did end up playing his junior year, and while he ended with just three sacks, it was a poorly-kept secret that he was more concerned with protecting himself than putting up numbers. Injuries and defenses gameplanning specifically to slow him down also contributed to his downtick in production.

Despite this, Clowney was still the favorite to be taken first, especially after he put together an excellent Combine performance. At 6’5″ 266lbs, his testing looked like this:

40-yard dash – 4.53 seconds

Vertical jump – 37.5″

Broad jump – 124″

All three were sensational numbers. His agility testing was fine, if unspectacular, but his explosiveness more than made up for it. The Texans drafted him #1 overall, but his rookie season did not go as planned. He landed on injured reserve after four games due to a torn meniscus.

Since then, Clowney has missed nine games over five seasons. Teams are wary of his injury history, especially his knee condition that required microfracture surgery in 2014.

On the field, Clowney has been a good player, but perhaps not quite as good as he was expected to be. His run defense has been very strong, but his pass-rushing productivity leaves much to be desired. In 75 career games, he’s had just 32 sacks, including only three last season.

That said, Clowney is a lot like Myles Garrett in that sacks are not a good way to measure his impact (or that of any DE). Opposing offenses know that Clowney is entirely capable of single-handedly wrecking a game, and gameplan to stop that from happening.

Clowney may have totaled only three sacks in 2019, but he also generated 58 pressures on 482 pass-rush snaps, which is a very good number.

At 27 and entering his seventh NFL campaign, Clowney should be cashing in with a long-term deal, but for the reasons mentioned previously, that hasn’t happened. But instead of taking less money on a long-term contract, Clowney’s best move at this point is to sign short-term and test the market again in a year or two, which is why Cleveland may be his best landing spot.

Yes, the Titans may be the better team. But with the Browns, Clowney would have the opportunity to play opposite of Garrett. Having to deal with two of the most dominant athletes at the position in NFL history would be an absolute nightmare for offenses. Both require double-teaming, but that’s impossible to do without keeping a tight end in-line at all times. With Garrett commanding so much attention, Clowney would be free to roam around and wreak havoc. He would be in the best position in his career to put up sack numbers, and if he does that, perhaps teams will be more likely to pay him, especially with the salary cap set to jump significantly next year.

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