Friday, February 14, 2014

Jadeveon Clowney - #1 DE - Part 2

The next game I watched was Jadeveon Clowney vs. Missouri. This took place the week after the Tennessee game on October 26, 2013. Here is the game:


Much of the same from Jadeveon Clowney in this game. At the start of the game he was clearly one of the first people off the block at the snap. Additionally, he does a great job of using his hands to shed blocks. He's also got several moves including the ability to bull rush, over power the lineman, a swim move, and a spin move. This allows him to be a disruptive playmaker who can consistently take on and beat double teams.

However, when he is clearly beat, he doesn't do a good job of consistently getting his hands up on passing plays. And when he was double teamed consistently, he seemed to get frustrated and slowed down a bit. Maybe it was fatigue, but he just didn't seem to be as motivated. Finally, by the end of the game, Missouri was killing them by running at Jadeveon Clowney's side. I think it was because he likes to over pursue too much. 

The final game was the first game this season. SC v. UNC:




Again, it's much of the same, but I think you'll notice that he consistently favors beating the OT to the outside. He's strong enough and quick enough to beat the OT on the inside, but for whatever reason, he likes to rely on the edges. You'll also notice his aggression puts him offsides in each of the games I've listed. I think he really needs to become more aware and not consistently rely on his athletic ability to beat teams upfield. NFL teams are going to take advantage of this. However, he is still an elite pass rusher who can line up at any position on the field. 

My overall impressions of Clowney are that he is an elite level pass rusher. This guy deserves to be a top 10 pick. However, he needs to work on his aggressiveness. He seems to be enamored with sacks and pressures, which allows teams to beat him on plays to his edge and screens. He really needs to work on getting his hands up on passing plays where he is clearly beat as well. He is athletic enough to be a top tier NFL Defensive End for years to come and I would say he definitely will be. I was honestly hoping I wouldn't like what I saw, but he is a beast. He reminds me of a young Julius Peppers. I think the sky is the limit for him as he has all the abilities you'd want: size, strength, speed, acceleration, agility, burst. I think the only thing missing is a commitment to mastering his craft. My guess is he will be a 12-14 sack guy if he decides to commit to setting his edge and playing the run. He may get more sacks if he doesn't but he won't be as effective of a player. There you have it, my first player scouted. 

Jadeveon Clowney - #1 Ranked DE Part 1




    Okay, so the first player I am going to do is considered the highest rated prospect this year: Jadeveon Clowney. He is the number 1 rated DE according to the list. For those of you who do not know, he played for South Carolina. He is number 7. He is listed at 6'6" 274 pounds. The first game I am going to look at is South Carolina vs. Tennessee. This game was midseason taking place on October 19, 2013. I've provided the youtube film from it for your reference if you'd like to critique my assessment of his performance in this game.




    The very first thing I noticed was his ability to get up field. On almost every play he seems to be able to push his way upfield. On running plays he also seems to be able to hold his block and keep his position. I think this comes from great lower body strength. You can also see his athleticism on display. He seems to be incredibly agile and capable of missing people just flat out miss him. 

    However, I think he relies on his athleticism too much at times. If you notice, he seems to be so eager to get up the field, that he completely fails to set the edge leaving a hole where he used to be. 

    The most important thing I noticed in this game is that he seems to be ahead of everyone on the field. Watch the ball get snapped. Almost every time he is the first one to react on offense or defense, whether it be extremely noticeable or barely noticeable. This explosion and quickness will likely lead to a lot of sacks in the NFL. 

    Another positive thing is his ability in open space as a defensive end. When he has to go to open space in this game and act as a linebacker, he is always moving towards the ball, and is either the first one there or right there as the tackle is being made. 

    However, there were some other issues I noticed in this game. For one, he tackles a little too high. This could lead to some issues in the NFL. Combined with his tendency to overplay and push it up field sometimes, I think you will see offenses find running room to his side, at least at first. Also, it seemed like once a play got beyond him, he would stop. He needs to remember to always be going in the NFL. 

NFL Draft Scouting

Alright, in anticipation of the NFL Draft on Thursday May 8, 2014, I've decided to provide my own insight into the various prospects. Seeing as how we are approximately 85 days away from the NFL Draft, I decided that I am going to aim to do the scouting on the top 10 listed players (as of today 2/14/2014) at positions of need for the Bears. Namely, I will be providing a scouting report for the top 10 players at each of the following positions:

DE
DT
OLB
ILB
CB
S

In other words, there will be 60 scouting reports. Now, I'm not a professional scout, and I will I have no idea what an individual player's assignment is on any given down. I will just provide insight into what I see, and you can feel free to comment. Just so we are clear, I will be providing scouting reports on the following players:

Defensive Ends:

  1. Jadeveon Clowney February 14, 2014
  2. Kony Ealy March 7, 2014
  3. Dee Ford
  4. Scott Crichton February 18, 2014
  5. Trent Murphy
  6. Jackson Jeffcoat
  7. Marcus Smith
  8. Chris Smith
  9. Kareem Martin
  10. DeMarcus Lawrence
Defensive Tackles:
  1. Louis Nix February 17, 2014
  2. Aaron Donald February 21, 2014
  3. Timmy Jernigan February 19, 2014
  4. RaShede Hageman February 21, 2014
  5. Stephon Tuitt February 17, 2014
  6. Dominique Easely February 23, 2014
  7. Will Sutton February 24, 2014
  8. Kelcy Quarles February 25, 2014
  9. Anthony Johnson March 6, 2014
  10. DaQuan Jones March 6, 2014
Inside Linebackers
  1. C.J. Mosely
  2. Yawin Smallwood
  3. Chris Borland
  4. Shayne Skov
  5. Christian Jones
  6. Lamin Barrow
  7. Preston  Brown
  8. Devekeyan Lattimore
  9. Jeremiah George
  10. Andrew Jackson
Outside Linebackers:
  1. Kahlil Mack
  2. Anthony Barr
  3. Ryan Shazier
  4. Kyle Van Noy
  5. Trevor Reilly
  6. Telvin Smith
  7. Carl Bradford
  8. Jeremiah Attaochu
  9. Christian Kirksey
  10. Michael Sam March 7, 2014
Cornerbacks:
  1. Darqueze Dennard
  2. Justin Gilbert
  3. Jason Verrett
  4. Marcus Roberson
  5. Bradley Roby
  6. Lamarcus Joyner
  7. Kyle Fuller
  8. Louchiez Purifoy
  9. Victor Hampton
  10. Bashaud Breeland
Safeties:
  1. HaSean Clinton-Dix
  2. Calvin Pryor
  3. Jimmie Ward
  4. Ed Reynolds
  5. Deone Bucannon
  6. Terrence Brooks
  7. Craig Loston
  8. Dion Bailey
  9. Ahmad Dixon
  10. Vinnie Sunseri
The safeties are the top 5 free safeties and the top 5 strong safeties. Reminder, I really don't know what I'm talking about, so please withhold on any name calling. Also, I will try to keep up on this, but it's quite an undertaking so please bear with me. I also reserve the right to jump from any position at any time. After I finish a particular category, I will rearrange the players to how I see fit. Once I finish it all, I will create a big board of all these players. Here's to hoping this lands me a job with the Bears ;)