In your opinion is Jadeveon Clowney a 'Prima Donna' ?

[thenepatsrule]

Clowney skips on-field drills, citing hip flexor | ProFootballTalk

Clowney decided not to participate during the drills for defensive linemen. In a very brief interview with Warren Sapp of NFL Network, Clowney said he didn’t like one of the drills the rest of the defensive linemen were doing, on which they began face-down on the ground and then had to get up and high-step over and around blocking pads.

“I don’t like how they start on the ground,” Clowney said with a grin.

I hope that teams let him fall to the fourth round just to teach him a lesson. He should learn from what has happened to people like TO, Albert Haynesworth etc...

 

[Sicilian]

It's hard to say. Reports were he dogged it a bit in college this year because he didn't want to hurt his draftability with an injury. I don't condone the behavior, but at least I can justify that by saying it's a potentially multi-million dollar difference.

He does give me the vibe of a player that will often find excuses to do the same thing in other scenarios. I can see him acting every similar the first time he's in a contract year. Gets some little nagging thing and sits out until 100% to not hurt his marketability. Could be wrong though, he certainly deserves the chance to prove he's not that guy before I kill him for it.

Oh, and also, if teams are going to let him drop to the 4th, I'd want the Pats to grab him at 29, no questions asked, every day and twice on Sundays. If you've got the #1 pick and several holes, you can justify passing on him for a "safer" player. When you're at 29 and need defensive talent, that would be a no-brainer.

 

[varjao]

It's the kind of pick that doesn't make sense for every team in the league.

If the Texans pass on him, imagine him being drafted by the Jaguars, it's gonna be fun.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I wouldn't touch that prima Donna with a 10 foot pole. Reminds me of LaVar Arrington out of Penn State in 2000. This guy was a beast in college, but a major bust in the pros, I see A LOT of Arrington in Clowney. Big red flag when a football player refuses to compete.

 

[stealthdog]

Except Clowney wasn't even a beast in college....and this comes from a Game****.

Clowney gets all the hype he is getting because of one play - the hit in a bowl game 2 years ago. Before that, noone even paid any attention to him. I watched every USC game this year - people say his production was down because of double-triple teams and teams running away from him. I saw tons of one-on-one opportunities where he was a huge nonfactor in many of the games.

Maybe he has potential, but given his poor attitidue and lack of effort, I don't see him being worth it. Maybe he will finally "get it", but I see some team drafting him in the Top 10 and really regretting that decision in 4 years.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

I wouldn't touch that prima Donna with a 10 foot pole. Reminds me of LaVar Arrington out of Penn State in 2000. This guy was a beast in college, but a major bust in the pros, I see A LOT of Arrington in Clowney. Big red flag when a football player refuses to compete.

LaVar Arrington made three straight Pro Bowls early in his career before knee injuries took their toll, and then an Achilles tear basically ended his career. I wouldn't say he was a major bust. He wasn't even the biggest bust out of Penn State that year; Courtney Brown went #1.

John Elway, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck didn't throw at the combine, and Luck is the only one who even did agility drills. Jarvis Jones didn't do any workouts. Tony Mandarich, Robert Gallery and Andre Wadsworth were all combine beats. Terrell Suggs disappointed.

The Combine is a hype factory that ultimately matters very little. The medical exams and interviews with Clowney that we don't get to see are going to go a lot further than how much or how little he does in his shorts and a t-shirt.

 

[Kontradiction]

Not sure he's a prima donna. The hip flexor issue may be very real. He also only did 21 reps @ 225, which is surprising. Makes me wonder if he has some sort of shoulder or pectoral injury. People here are making the mistake of thinking that the combine is the be all, end all for a player. It's not. Anyone that has watched him at SC knows he's a stronger player than that. What he needs to develop is his technique. Too often at SC, I would see him rely too heavily upon raw athleticism. He needs to refine his technique at the pro level.

 

[Kontradiction]

Except Clowney wasn't even a beast in college....and this comes from a Game****.

Clowney gets all the hype he is getting because of one play - the hit in a bowl game 2 years ago. Before that, noone even paid any attention to him. I watched every USC game this year - people say his production was down because of double-triple teams and teams running away from him. I saw tons of one-on-one opportunities where he was a huge nonfactor in many of the games.

Maybe he has potential, but given his poor attitidue and lack of effort, I don't see him being worth it. Maybe he will finally "get it", but I see some team drafting him in the Top 10 and really regretting that decision in 4 years.

You're right about double and triple teams. He was only doubled teamed consistently in two games. UCF and (IIRC) the bowl game. Other than that, he was usually facing a single blocker.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Except Clowney wasn't even a beast in college....and this comes from a Game****.

Clowney gets all the hype he is getting because of one play - the hit in a bowl game 2 years ago. Before that, noone even paid any attention to him.

He was 6th in the Heisman voting before that one play. He set school records for both tackles for loss and sacks. I don't know what your expectations are, but he was definitely a beast. He disappointed statistically this year, but as Kontra put it, there may be something more to his injuries than we know. But the idea that nobody knew about him or paid attention to him before the hit against Michigan is simply false, even if you went to school there. It's not true.

 

[SalemPats]

What i find strange is that his coaches are questioning him. Falling in the draft might be the best thing to happen to him. It might give him a kick in the butt.

 

[Gronkandez]

I wouldn't touch that prima Donna with a 10 foot pole. Reminds me of LaVar Arrington out of Penn State in 2000. This guy was a beast in college, but a major bust in the pros, I see A LOT of Arrington in Clowney. Big red flag when a football player refuses to compete.

Why do you feel so strongly that he's a prima donna, because he got a speeding ticket? Because he played it safe with his body when tens of millions of dollars were on the line? A situation that was beyond his control because the NFL wouldn't let him play in their league this year? Because he didn't do a drill at the combine? IsS Teddy BW a huge prima donna too?

I think people are being very quick to jump to conclusions with this guy. He has all the same measurables as JPP (height, weight, arm length) and he's faster. People can speculate about his heart/desire but there's really not much to go on at this point.

 

[chasa]

he essentially took the year off in college, then he ran pretty well but didnt do anything else, and was out benched by a punter.

I think hes incredibly overhyped, and is about to get paid a ton of money when hes drafted top 3

 

[strngplyr]

What I find hilarious is that people here are acting as if he fell to 29 they still wouldn't want to draft him.

This kid may not have the mental makeup of a #1 overall, but he is without a doubt one of the top players in this draft and if he DOES go #1 and plays on the same line as JJ Watt he'll have more than an opportunity to make plays with the double teams rolling towards Watt.

 

[Kontradiction]

What I find hilarious is that people here are acting as if he fell to 29 they still wouldn't want to draft him.

This kid may not have the mental makeup of a #1 overall, but he is without a doubt one of the top players in this draft and if he DOES go #1 and plays on the same line as JJ Watt he'll have more than an opportunity to make plays with the double teams rolling towards Watt.

I would be ecstatic if he fell to #29.

 

[Brady6]

Not sure he's a prima donna. The hip flexor issue may be very real. He also only did 21 reps @ 225, which is surprising. Makes me wonder if he has some sort of shoulder or pectoral injury. People here are making the mistake of thinking that the combine is the be all, end all for a player. It's not. Anyone that has watched him at SC knows he's a stronger player than that. What he needs to develop is his technique. Too often at SC, I would see him rely too heavily upon raw athleticism. He needs to refine his technique at the pro level.

Chandler Jones did 22, Ansah did 21, and JPP did 19. It is harder for them to bench because of their arm lengths. I'm 6'3 and I spend a lot of time at the gym and my bench isn't what shorter guys can do.

 

[p8ryts]

The two worst things about today's coverage was the incessant focus on Clowney and Sam. Enough already.

 

[Gronkandez]

he essentially took the year off in college, then he ran pretty well but didnt do anything else, and was out benched by a punter.

I think hes incredibly overhyped, and is about to get paid a ton of money when hes drafted top 3

What were you expecting him to run, a 4.2 forty? His time was fantastic.
As for the bench, it's harder to put up bench press reps when your arms are freakishly long. JPP put up 19 reps at his combine, two less than Clowney.

Clowney just turned 21 last week.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/24/jadeveon-clowney-makes-a-mockery-of-the-40/

We knew Jadeveon Clowney was an athletic freak. But we weren’t prepared for this.

Clowney, the former South Carolina defensive end who is widely regarded as the most talented player in this year’s draft, ran his first 40-yard dash in an unofficial time of 4.47 seconds.

That time is insane for a defensive lineman. At last year’s Combine, the fastest 40 for a defensive lineman was 4.60 seconds. Two years ago, Bruce Irvin was considered a freakish athlete who propelled himself into the first round when he ran a 4.50-second 40 at 245 pounds. Clowney weighs 266 pounds.

 

[Hael]

he essentially took the year off in college, then he ran pretty well but didnt do anything else, and was out benched by a punter.

I think hes incredibly overhyped, and is about to get paid a ton of money when hes drafted top 3

The bench press means nothing, its one of the most useless exercises for strength known to man. At the Combine level, its almost all about technique like how to best bounce the bar off your chest. Clowney has super long arms, so it's not suprising his bench falls a few short of the moving average for a DE (25).

If you want to see his strength, film is far and away the best way, and it was clear that he could move even the biggest OLs around like they were paper. He probably is a little underweight for the position at this time, but a few years of NFL strength training and he'll be up at 270-280 which is more than enough for a speed rusher..

He probably isn't the next Dwight Freeney, but he'll likely be a very good NFL player if he can keep his motivation up.

 

[ashley]

What I find hilarious is that people here are acting as if he fell to 29 they still wouldn't want to draft him.

This kid may not have the mental makeup of a #1 overall, but he is without a doubt one of the top players in this draft and if he DOES go #1 and plays on the same line as JJ Watt he'll have more than an opportunity to make plays with the double teams rolling towards Watt.

I'm hoping he goes number 2 to St Louis. I really don't want to see that D-line come playoff time with him and Watt, that could be really scary especially with the way our o-line has played in recent playoff games.

 

[Ivan]

What I find hilarious is that people here are acting as if he fell to 29 they still wouldn't want to draft him.

This kid may not have the mental makeup of a #1 overall, but he is without a doubt one of the top players in this draft and if he DOES go #1 and plays on the same line as JJ Watt he'll have more than an opportunity to make plays with the double teams rolling towards Watt.

I don't see many doing that, what i see is people questioning taking him top 5. I have questions about using a top 5 pick on him but if he fell to the patriots i think they have to give really really serious thought about taking him. Now, that isn't going to happen unless he punches a cop between now and then but i still think those questioning whether you should use the top picks on him have a solid case given the year he had in 2013. I would not use the top pick in the draft on him, period, I would go for Robinson, Watkins, or Barr.