Clowney
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Oslo Oildrillers
- Practice Squad
- Posts: 182
- Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 3:16 am
Re: Clowney
Breeze wrote this in Feb:
Jadeveon Clowney
Now that I likely have frustrated many of you due to the findings regarding Khalil Mack, I might as well not sugarcoat this one either; Jadeveon Clowney may be a linebacker for IDP, too. Just like Mack, the start of the 2016 season was smooth sailing for Clowney owners. The former No. 1 overall pick was finally healthy, playing well, and to our pleasant surprise played full-time base defensive end in Houston’s 3-4 scheme. This was the first time in Clowney's career playing on the line, and he held his own. It was even more encouraging that Clowney was playing defensive end with J.J. Watt active, so it did not look like he was just a short-term fill-in due to Watt's injury. For the first ten weeks, Clowney continued to play every single base snap at defensive end while producing in the box score and showing people exactly why he was referred to by many as a generational talent.
Week 11 came around and starting OLB John Simon went down with an injury, which changed everything for Clowney. It was obvious from that point on that the reason Clowney started the year at defensive end wasn’t due to the Texans' preference to use him there, but rather the desire to get all three of Clowney, Simon and Whitney Mercilus on the field at the same time. With Simon now inactive, Clowney moved back to outside linebacker and never played a single defensive end snap in base for the remainder of the season (including two playoff games). Simon’s injury kept him out of all of those games but Week 16, so it was noticeable that the Texans did not move Clowney back on the line for that week. It’s entirely plausible that the Texans limited snaps for Simon in his first game back to ease him back from injury, but it is noteworthy that he played only in pass situation sub-packages and was used a few times as the third outside linebacker to spell Clowney or Mercilus when they needed a break.
So, what exactly does this all mean? It means that the Texans prefer Clowney at linebacker when they do not have a healthy combo of Mercilus and Simon to play with him. With Simon an unrestricted free agent this offseason, the Texans’ decision to bring Simon back or not will speak loudly about how they want to use Clowney in 2017.
http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/6 ... ss-rushers
A beat writer said this after OTAs:
"I think he’s still primarily going to line up at defensive end. But the beauty of this defense has been the flexibility of the front seven. Think about how many different spots on the line we’ve seen him and Mercilus and Watt line up. They’ve been all over the place. You’ll see Clowney stand up on the edge from time-to-time, but he’s still going to be classified as a defensive end."
Clowney himself said after minicamp:
“Right now, I’m just playing everything. They got me moving all over the field,” Clowney said of his fit on the defense. “I love what I’m doing right now. I love the schemes we got. They’re putting all the defenses together really good for us. They’re moving us around. Nobody is standing still, so that’s a good thing. Knowing the defense will make it a lot better so we really move on our own and move to certain spots that we know. It’s just basically game planning, really. That’s why I do that.”
Ultimately we are at the mercy of Breeze and how he defines where Clowney lines up in "base". These things aren't black and white. Very few play just one position on the defensive line, they typically get moved around and in some defenses they get moved around A LOT. So ultimately it is a judgment call and in my experience Breeze typically leans towards putting players at LB if there is any chance of doing so.
Jadeveon Clowney
Now that I likely have frustrated many of you due to the findings regarding Khalil Mack, I might as well not sugarcoat this one either; Jadeveon Clowney may be a linebacker for IDP, too. Just like Mack, the start of the 2016 season was smooth sailing for Clowney owners. The former No. 1 overall pick was finally healthy, playing well, and to our pleasant surprise played full-time base defensive end in Houston’s 3-4 scheme. This was the first time in Clowney's career playing on the line, and he held his own. It was even more encouraging that Clowney was playing defensive end with J.J. Watt active, so it did not look like he was just a short-term fill-in due to Watt's injury. For the first ten weeks, Clowney continued to play every single base snap at defensive end while producing in the box score and showing people exactly why he was referred to by many as a generational talent.
Week 11 came around and starting OLB John Simon went down with an injury, which changed everything for Clowney. It was obvious from that point on that the reason Clowney started the year at defensive end wasn’t due to the Texans' preference to use him there, but rather the desire to get all three of Clowney, Simon and Whitney Mercilus on the field at the same time. With Simon now inactive, Clowney moved back to outside linebacker and never played a single defensive end snap in base for the remainder of the season (including two playoff games). Simon’s injury kept him out of all of those games but Week 16, so it was noticeable that the Texans did not move Clowney back on the line for that week. It’s entirely plausible that the Texans limited snaps for Simon in his first game back to ease him back from injury, but it is noteworthy that he played only in pass situation sub-packages and was used a few times as the third outside linebacker to spell Clowney or Mercilus when they needed a break.
So, what exactly does this all mean? It means that the Texans prefer Clowney at linebacker when they do not have a healthy combo of Mercilus and Simon to play with him. With Simon an unrestricted free agent this offseason, the Texans’ decision to bring Simon back or not will speak loudly about how they want to use Clowney in 2017.
http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/6 ... ss-rushers
A beat writer said this after OTAs:
"I think he’s still primarily going to line up at defensive end. But the beauty of this defense has been the flexibility of the front seven. Think about how many different spots on the line we’ve seen him and Mercilus and Watt line up. They’ve been all over the place. You’ll see Clowney stand up on the edge from time-to-time, but he’s still going to be classified as a defensive end."
Clowney himself said after minicamp:
“Right now, I’m just playing everything. They got me moving all over the field,” Clowney said of his fit on the defense. “I love what I’m doing right now. I love the schemes we got. They’re putting all the defenses together really good for us. They’re moving us around. Nobody is standing still, so that’s a good thing. Knowing the defense will make it a lot better so we really move on our own and move to certain spots that we know. It’s just basically game planning, really. That’s why I do that.”
Ultimately we are at the mercy of Breeze and how he defines where Clowney lines up in "base". These things aren't black and white. Very few play just one position on the defensive line, they typically get moved around and in some defenses they get moved around A LOT. So ultimately it is a judgment call and in my experience Breeze typically leans towards putting players at LB if there is any chance of doing so.
Re: Clowney
Great write-up, Oslo. It will be interesting to see where his snaps are this year.
The standard is the standard.
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