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

[Froob]

I wouldn't put my job on the line for him. Would be very very nervous about taking him high in the draft. I feel like he's not willingly to put in the effort to be a great player.

 

[patsfan-1982]

most top QB's don't throw the ball at the combine the one and only thing teams really want to see from them IMO noting is more 'Prima Donna' then that, him not wanting to take part in a drill that he most likely has never trained for is not a big deal

 

[Brady6]

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...

I do not consider Clowney a prima donna, I think that the combine is a marketing opportunity for players in an effort to sell themselves at the highest price. Clowney did the things that marketed well, the forty, bench, and jumping. The drills did not offer any upside to him.

As far as his performance last season in college, I am not going to fault him for being cautious about suffering an injury. Kids go to college to build a future and position themselves to earn money in the future that is the case for all kids not just football players. Clowney did that in 2012. I think it is obvious he would have entered the draft last year, and would have entered the draft and without a doubt in my mind would have been the #1 pick in the 2013 draft. The rules did not allow him to enter the draft so he had to play one more season. I can tell you that if Clowney was playing 100% and got his knee taken out by some future car salesman playing back LG on an opponent’s team because the car dealer did not want to get beat and give up a sack – no NFL team was going to cut Clowney a check for $20M to thank him for playing hard at Maryland. Clowney stands to make millions that will allow him to take care of himself and his family for life, I have no problem with him prioritizing that over playing all out with no regard for his health for a college that made tens of millions on his sheer presence alone while he got nothing more than a average college education.

 

[stealthdog]

I wouldn't mind the Patriots taking him at 29 because...well...its the end of the 1st. I expect he will give everything his first year. But, he is also the type that will sit out demanding a new contract as soon as he is eligible. Once he gets paid...then I start to worry. Just don't know if he is worth all that headache.

As for the 40....well, he is a DE. Straight line speed is even more irrelevant than his bench press for a guy playing on the line of scrimmage. Definitely for a WR or CB, but who cares what a lineman's straight line speed is.

 

[SB39]

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.

That play was the worst thing that ever happened to him. The ESPN hype machine went into overdrive when they showed that replay over and over and over (etc.).

It set an absurd standard that he just wasn't talented enough to justify.

 

[supafly]

I wouldn't mind the Patriots taking him at 29 because...well...its the end of the 1st. I expect he will give everything his first year. But, he is also the type that will sit out demanding a new contract as soon as he is eligible. Once he gets paid...then I start to worry. Just don't know if he is worth all that headache.

As for the 40....well, he is a DE. Straight line speed is even more irrelevant than his bench press for a guy playing on the line of scrimmage. Definitely for a WR or CB, but who cares what a lineman's straight line speed is.

Considering the fact that he's about 100% guaranteed to go either first, second, or third, I'd say that we're pretty far away from having to worry about taking him at #29

His time in the 40 yd dash proves that he's a super human freak of nature. It's absolutely insane to have a guy weigh 265-270 lbs and run that quickly. It's unheard of. He very well may reach the 4.40s on his pro day. There's a ton of RBs and WRs who aren't that fast....we're talking about a defensive lineman.

There are some players whose raw talent itself is enough to allow them to excel at the next level, even with a bit of a prima donna or poor attitude. We've seen that happen plenty of times. Whether or not he's worth his draft selection is anyone's guess, but I'm thinking that there's a pretty low chance that he's an outright bust altogether.

 

[Tunescribe]

Clowney is irrelevant to the Pats so there's really no need to care much about him. That being said, I don't like him. He looks like the type of player who plays when he wants to and isn't a team-first guy.

 

[SB39]

There are some players whose raw talent itself is enough to allow them to excel at the next level, even with a bit of a prima donna or poor attitude. We've seen that happen plenty of times. Whether or not he's worth his draft selection is anyone's guess, but I'm thinking that there's a pretty low chance that he's an outright bust altogether.

There is nobody in this league talented enough to excel without putting in some good, old fashioned hard work. I would be very leery using such a high pick on someone who has such a questionable work ethic.

 

[OhExaulted1]

If Houston does indeed take him #1, that means his coaches will be:

Bill O'Brien HC
Romeo Crennel DC

...and Bill Koller DL coach. Former DE-NT-DT from 1974-1981 for the Bengals and Buccaneers...6-3 255....61 yrs old...DL coach college Illinois and Purdue 1986-89... Falcons 1990-2000, Rams 2001-2005, Bills 2007-08, Texans 2009-present...only coach retained by O'Brien after his hiring....2 SB appearances 1999 ATL and 2002 STL (yes, those Rams).

I think theses guys can handle him.

 

[Wilfork#75]

Clowney is definitely a selfish player but it is hard to ignore that he is a physical freak with almost unlimited upside. The skipping the combine drills wouldn't be an issue if he had of played hard this year, but when your work ethic and effort is the biggest question its certainly a red flag when you don't compete. That is the difference between Clowney and the other guys that didn't do drills like Bridgewater.

I'm one of the people that don't care too much about the results of the combine and think its more for the media and fans than NFL teams evaluating players. I don't really care what numbers guys put up because tape is far, far more important. but what I do want to see is guys who compete and who stands out among the group. These are all guys who have been 'the guy' through high school and college, so its interesting to see who are the alpha males in the groups. With Clowney not competing in the drills we don't get to see that. What is evident though is Aaron Donald is THE alpha male of the D-lineman.

The big question for Clowney is what kind of effort you will get once he gets paid. If he didn't put in full effort and protected himself before making it to the NFL, what is he going to do once the money is in the bank? I've gone back and forth on this one and if I'm Houston and I can't trade down then I would probably take Clowney over the QB's. The way I look at it is he has higher potential as a DE than any of the QB's in this draft and he has a lower bust potential than any of the QB's simply because he can be serviceable on his freak athleticism alone. That might make him a bust as a #1 overall pick, but he should still be a starter unlike a bust at the QB position.

 

[supafly]

There are some players whose raw talent itself is enough to allow them to excel at the next level, even with a bit of a prima donna or poor attitude. We've seen that happen plenty of times. Whether or not he's worth his draft selection is anyone's guess, but I'm thinking that there's a pretty low chance that he's an outright bust altogether.

There is nobody in this league talented enough to excel without putting in some good, old fashioned hard work. I would be very leery using such a high pick on someone who has such a questionable work ethic.

I don't remember bringing up the aspect of failing to put in any kind of hard work per se, so apologies if that's how you perceived the comments.

My point was that we've seen plenty of guys who are able to survive pretty nicely on their raw talents alone. Some don't need to do as much as others in practice to succeed on Sunday afternoons, and some have proven to be pretty decent football players despite their poor attitudes.

Do we necessarily want them here? No, of course not...but there are plenty of players who have proven to have attitudes that aren't necessarily "Patriot-like" who still go on to have decent careers just the same. There are plenty of other environments that could allow him to achieve 8-10 sacks this year, where that may not happen had he come to other teams.

 

[thenepatsrule]

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.

My point Exactly........

 

[thenepatsrule]

I wouldn't put my job on the line for him. Would be very very nervous about taking him high in the draft. I feel like he's not willingly to put in the effort to be a great player.

In an interview the other day he said that the NFL was just a stepping stone for him. Stepping stone to what?

 

[thenepatsrule]

I do not consider Clowney a prima donna, I think that the combine is a marketing opportunity for players in an effort to sell themselves at the highest price. Clowney did the things that marketed well, the forty, bench, and jumping. The drills did not offer any upside to him.

As far as his performance last season in college, I am not going to fault him for being cautious about suffering an injury. Kids go to college to build a future and position themselves to earn money in the future that is the case for all kids not just football players. Clowney did that in 2012. I think it is obvious he would have entered the draft last year, and would have entered the draft and without a doubt in my mind would have been the #1 pick in the 2013 draft. The rules did not allow him to enter the draft so he had to play one more season. I can tell you that if Clowney was playing 100% and got his knee taken out by some future car salesman playing back LG on an opponent’s team because the car dealer did not want to get beat and give up a sack – no NFL team was going to cut Clowney a check for $20M to thank him for playing hard at Maryland. Clowney stands to make millions that will allow him to take care of himself and his family for life, I have no problem with him prioritizing that over playing all out with no regard for his health for a college that made tens of millions on his sheer presence alone while he got nothing more than a average college education.

The problem most people have is with him is with stuff like this

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 certainly understand him wanting to slow down towards the end of his college days so that he can make big bucks in the NFL, that part totally makes sense. What strikes me odd is that why would you want to not do stuff that is expected of you at the combine? TO was/is freakishly talented but being the DRAMA QUEEN that he is he is not employed in the NFL currently. Players need to understand that the owners/coaches have egos too, you cant go out there and say that i will not take part in a particular drill etc, it doesn't sit well with your coaches and teammates.

 

[supafly]

In an interview the other day he said that the NFL was just a stepping stone for him. Stepping stone to what?

He seems to be one of those guys who isn't too bright at times, and/or doesn't handle himself in the proper manner due to inexperience or immaturity.
That doesn't scream "first overall pick" to me personally, but it very well may to another team. After all, there are many of these kinds of players in the NFL, and many of them are quite successful in the way they play the game still.

We all want the proper balance of attitude, smarts, and talent, but that doesn't always mean that we have any better chance of having success in the draft than other teams who pick thugs and idiots. If it did, we'd never fail on draft picks, and many of the other 31 teams would pass up the opportunity to choose playmakers, by going with choirboys instead.

As much as we try to make them out to be potential CEO's, they are kids who play football. Many of them are ****y, poorly educated, selfish, and don't handle themselves too well in major spotlight situations. For all we know, many of us here could have acted the exact same way at the age of 20 or 21 had we been put in the national spotlight where everyone caters to your every need. It probably changes you a bit, sometimes for the better--sometimes for the worst.

 

[thenepatsrule]

He seems to be one of those guys who isn't too bright at times, and/or doesn't handle himself in the proper manner due to inexperience or immaturity.
That doesn't scream "first overall pick" to me personally, but it very well may to another team. After all, there are many of these kinds of players in the NFL, and many of them are quite successful in the way they play the game still.

We all want the proper balance of attitude, smarts, and talent, but that doesn't always mean that we have any better chance of having success in the draft than other teams who pick thugs and idiots. If it did, we'd never fail on draft picks, and many of the other 31 teams would pass up the opportunity to choose playmakers, by going with choirboys instead.

As much as we try to make them out to be potential CEO's, they are kids who play football. Many of them are ****y, poorly educated, selfish, and don't handle themselves too well in major spotlight situations. For all we know, many of us here could have acted the exact same way at the age of 20 or 21 had we been put in the national spotlight where everyone caters to your every need. It probably changes you a bit, sometimes for the better--sometimes for the worst.

Very well said............ :rocker:

 

[Froob]

In an interview the other day he said that the NFL was just a stepping stone for him. Stepping stone to what?

Yeah....not good. To those who are talking about how insane his combine stats are, remember Vernon Gholston? Not saying he's definitely going to be a bust. But, I'd rather take a guy who I know will bust ass. If Clowney is the real deal however, he'd give St. Louis an all-time great defensive line.

 

[IllegalContact]

Yeah....not good. To those who are talking about how insane his combine stats are, remember Vernon Gholston? Not saying he's definitely going to be a bust. But, I'd rather take a guy who I know will bust ass. If Clowney is the real deal however, he'd give St. Louis an all-time great defensive line.

yeah, well.....I can tell you that no front office guy wants to be the guy who drafted george rogers instead of lawrence taylor

his combine numbers are not just impressive, they are absurd

putting him on the same unit and be mentored by a guy like JJ Watt is pretty scary to me

the rap against gholston was that he didn't care about football.......the rap against clowney is that he's 20 years old and he shows it......part of the problem is that maturity and discipline are not big words in spurriers program

 

[stealthdog]

Very well said............ :rocker:

There are "students" at South Carolina that can barely read. I'd like to see what his testing score is.

I read some scouts suggest he skipped specific events at the combine because he knew he wouldn't perform well at them. I don't blame him for that. Right now its all about marketing. But when you selectively choose what events you will do or not do, you are opening yourself up for critique.

If I was Houston, I would trade out or select an OL.

 

[JPsPats]

In my opinion Clowney is a BEAST. For him, its come easy in terms of always being the best. Without working hard he's been the best in high school and college because of his natural ability.

When in the NFL, raw talent isn't enough to be great, you have to work hard and bust your @ss.

It's up to clowney if he wants to be great. For people that say he is a prima donna its his agents that tell him what to do, or what not to do. He's a confident kid.

For people who say he has issues and they wouldn't draft him, well thats what coaches are for. Good coaches won't tolerate BS, and the good coaches will help develop him as a man and a player.

If BB had the number 1 pick, I bet he would take clowney and not think twice about it. BB would mold the kid, and make him a team first player like he has done with others in the past.

When you get a chance at a once in a decade type player, you don't pass on him, no matter how he might come of as a person. Coaches worth a damn will fix those issues.