I'm asking again.

[RamsFan14]

Clowney is very talented physically. What he has not yet shown is the drive to be the best. He may have that drive, but I'm skeptical. Not just because of his 2013 performance - but things like his bench press reps at the combine - which makes me think he just doesn't go that extra step in training.

He'll look sensational at times I'm sure - I'm just not confident he will be a dominating player, or even a big star. I'm sure he'll have some carefully edited highlight reel plays though.

Seriously - only 21 reps? Either he doesn't have the upper body strength capacity really needed in the NFL to be a defensive star who isn't a DB, or he just didn't train that hard for the combine. Add in that he never seemed to acquire additional pass rushing moves after his great season in 2012, and I'm very skeptical that he has the drive to be a star in the NFL.

At least as a 3-4 outside linebacker some of the strength issues will not be as important - a 4-3 DE needs to have a stronger upper body, so I'm very glad he's not a Ram - at least at what it would have cost the Rams.

For DE, I think bench press is overrated in the evaluation process. They showed some great players who benched somewhere in the neighborhood of what Clowney did (I can't remember who though...). Clowney is ultra quick though, that's what makes him pretty special. His initial burst is amazing, and I think he's fairly strong too, and some players might have a tougher time bench pressing because of long arms but ehhh. Having a player like Watt should bring the best out of Clowney, should be interesting to watch! I think Donald is a better fit on this team (just a little bit) but Clowney would be nice in horns too (if we'd taken him). I love our draft picks, don't get me wrong... But if we had drafted Clowney and OG Martin, I think some people would've been pretty happy with that too. That combination is not so different then what we have now in Robinson and Donald.

Clowney's motivation factor is a slight concern though, idk how much I buy into it but I'd by lying if I said I wasn't the tiniest bit concerned. But I've also heard Donald "taking plays off" when the ball isn't around him. So no prospect is perfect.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Right now at this point in the season it is a close race between Clowney, Donald, and me. I give a slight edge to the first two but we won't know anything for sure until walk on tryouts.

 

[Thordaddy]

For US Donald is better,he won't put a star on the bench when we use him on third down, what's more if you watch Donald the rest of his career and chart how many plays he takes off, Clowney took that many off during his last year in college.
If Donald had been two inches taller with the same stats ,he'd have been a guy people wanted to trade up into the top five to get,we got a gem.

 

[theramsruleUK]

Clowney is a clown

Donald is a don

 

[HeiseNBerg]

I don't know who is better, but I am glad we have Donald. I think he is a better fit for us.

^ This. Comparing Clowney to Donald is really apples-to-oranges. Donald was the perfect intersection of value and need, at the time the Rams picked him -- I'm thrilled that he's in horns.

 

[RamWoodie]

When Marshal Faulk came into the league he was called lazy. Just sayin'.

Anyone who saw Faulk at San Diego St knew better than to believe anyone calling him lazy! I NEVER heard any such thing! I'm not saying what Clowney can be, what I know is what I saw...and I saw a player who plays when he wants to.

 

[Faceplant]

Donald. All damn day, Donald. That is not a homer choice either, I have seriously never seen a DT with as violent of a first step burst as AD. Dude is going to be a straight up menace in the middle. Perfect fit for us.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Yep. They called him lazy, not committed, and said he didn't work out enough.

Then he set the world on fire.

And he probably Laughs about it every time he Banks his checks!

 

[ReddingRam]

Both have rare natural physical talents. But IMHO, AD is far ahead in technique and is also exactly what we needed on our DL ... an interior pass rush threat. He will also benefit from all the talent around him.

Clowney is a freak of a physical specimen ... but he lacks technique and is not surrounded by as much talent ... although Watt is a beast. He also will probably be moving from his hand in the dirt to a stand up OLB.

We'll just have to see how each handle the step up to the NFL level .... but I like AD's chances.

 

[blue4]

AD allows us to field our 4 best pass rusher at the same time. Some combo of Quinn, AD, Brockers, Long or Hayes. Clowney would have forced on someone on the bench on 3rd down who doesn't need to be there. I wouldn't have picked Clowney unless we traded down to like 20-25 range and he was still there. That's picking for the Rams and not a team in need of outside pass rushers of course.

 

[NJRamsFan]

Clowney is very talented physically. What he has not yet shown is the drive to be the best. He may have that drive, but I'm skeptical. Not just because of his 2013 performance - but things like his bench press reps at the combine - which makes me think he just doesn't go that extra step in training.

He'll look sensational at times I'm sure - I'm just not confident he will be a dominating player, or even a big star. I'm sure he'll have some carefully edited highlight reel plays though.

Seriously - only 21 reps? Either he doesn't have the upper body strength capacity really needed in the NFL to be a defensive star who isn't a DB, or he just didn't train that hard for the combine. Add in that he never seemed to acquire additional pass rushing moves after his great season in 2012, and I'm very skeptical that he has the drive to be a star in the NFL.

At least as a 3-4 outside linebacker some of the strength issues will not be as important - a 4-3 DE needs to have a stronger upper body, so I'm very glad he's not a Ram - at least at what it would have cost the Rams.

Robert Quinn put up 22 reps and he worked out just fine. A lot of the arguments against Clowney are nonsensical

 

[-X-]

Robert Quinn put up 22 reps and he worked out just fine. A lot of the arguments against Clowney are nonsensical

What'd Brockers put up? 19? Bench reps are nice, but these dudes drive from the legs. I'll bet they all squat over 500 lbs each.

 

[RamzFanz]

Anyone who saw Faulk at San Diego St knew better than to believe anyone calling him lazy! I NEVER heard any such thing! I'm not saying what Clowney can be, what I know is what I saw...and I saw a player who plays when he wants to.

I got that from his biography the other day. Lazy, didn't work out, ETC.

 

[Angry Ram]

I never wanted JC, he was my 4th choice of the big 4.

For me it was: Jake Matthews, Sammy Watkins, Greg Robinson, Jadaveon Clowney. The other 1st pick I wanted a CB (Darqueze Dennard).

But at the end of the day, I'm happy with what happened. All these guys are committed to football and have no questions about effort.

 

[Akrasian]

Robert Quinn put up 22 reps and he worked out just fine. A lot of the arguments against Clowney are nonsensical

Quinn had spent a year working out on his own, without access to the team's weight coach or any other advantages, thanks to his being ineligible due to the gift from an agent. That he was only a little behind players who had been able to work out with coaches for the previous year is actually impressive.

And remember - Quinn's rookie season wasn't much because he just wasn't ready - both in technique and in strength.

Clowney apparently didn't put in the work to build up the upper body endurance which is certainly useful for players who are fighting for position and will need to shed blockers. It can be overcome if he starts putting in the work - I'm just skeptical he really will consistently put in the work to make the most of his otherwise impressive talents. I think it's all too possible that he does enough to be good - but never becomes consistently great.

 

[NJRamsFan]

Quinn had spent a year working out on his own, without access to the team's weight coach or any other advantages, thanks to his being ineligible due to the gift from an agent. That he was only a little behind players who had been able to work out with coaches for the previous year is actually impressive.

And remember - Quinn's rookie season wasn't much because he just wasn't ready - both in technique and in strength.

Clowney apparently didn't put in the work to build up the upper body endurance which is certainly useful for players who are fighting for position and will need to shed blockers. It can be overcome if he starts putting in the work - I'm just skeptical he really will consistently put in the work to make the most of his otherwise impressive talents. I think it's all too possible that he does enough to be good - but never becomes consistently great.

As mentioned above Michael Brockers only put up 19 reps at the combine, these guys are very strong regardless of what you think the bench press indicates.

 

[AnarchyRam]

Maybe the Donald/Clowney comparison might be similar to the Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith comparisons? Smith was not as physically gifted but much more productive. But Sanders could do things Emmitt could never do.. Likewise I think Donald will be the more productive pro, while Clowney is freakish. I think..

 

[jjab360]

Clowney has all the talent in the world, he's pretty much got everything you'd want in a DE. Pairing him up with Watt is going to be nuts! Donald def has the talent too, but there's a reason Clowney went number 1 and Donald didn't. Sorry guys, gotta go Clowney at the moment (he's probably not the best fit for our team, but in terms of talent I think he beats Donald). We'll see what happens on the field, I'm just making my judgement based on what they've done in college.

In terms of what they did in college, Donald takes the edge pretty clearly, imo. Clowney went higher because of length and potential, but Donald thoroughly dominated the college level whereas Clowney was actually pretty disappointing.

 

[LesBaker]

I would think that having "power" to push away a guy on the line could be measured by bench press but I think it would make more sense to know what a guy could throw up 2-3 times. I say that because in the course of a play at the most you are going to get three chances to push a guy off of you and shed him.

A guy who can put up 420 three times is going to have an edge over a guy who can only put up 375 I would think.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Clowney has all the talent in the world, he's pretty much got everything you'd want in a DE. Pairing him up with Watt is going to be nuts! Donald def has the talent too, but there's a reason Clowney went number 1 and Donald didn't. Sorry guys, gotta go Clowney at the moment (he's probably not the best fit for our team, but in terms of talent I think he beats Donald). We'll see what happens on the field, I'm just making my judgement based on what they've done in college.

Does the position change to OLB/elephant make your assessment any different?