[ESPN] Who will go number 1: Bridgewater vs. Clowney

I'm thinking it'll be Teddy B.


I am excite.

 

Kiper is nothing more than a puppet for NFL Agents.

The man is a slime ball extraordinaire.

 

Kiper was pretty high on Watt from what I recall.

 

Ignore media chatter, ignore agent chatter, ignore needs, because the Texans have more holes than Swiss cheese. Draft most talented player available, take into account heath, attitude, and motor. To me that says Bridgewater or Barr. Clowney might have more talent, but his low motor and speeding ticket are huge red flags. My only concern with Bridgewater is his frame, my only concern with Clowney is his motor and obvious lack of impulse control.

Then there is Barr, relentless, multi faceted, high motor, talented. His play is saying "look Texans, here I am, Watt's twin brother, draft me, and you will never regret it. Ever".

The real decision shouldn't be Clowney vs Bridgewater, the real decision should be Barr or either of them, and it's a decision that I'm glad I don't have to make.

With that out of the way, I think McNair will choose Bridgewater. The most predictable thing about Uncle Bob is his predictability, and Lovie and Bridgewater are safe predictable choices, and they both might end up being great choices! Both would be immediate upgrades over Kubiak and Schaub.

Gonna be an interesting offseason.

 

The Hype Is No Joke

But neither is Jadeveon Clowney’s subpar junior season. Once thought to be crown jewel of the 2014 NFL draft, the South Carolina defensive end has opened himself up to scrutiny about his work ethic and maturity. He doesn’t turn 21 until Valentine’s Day, but teams are going to dig deep before falling in love​

[Long read on Clowney]

 

Clowney's outlook, if all goes right, is potential hall of famer. Bridgewater's outlook, if all goes right, is somewhere between 6-15th best QB in the league. If this were a video game, Clowney's potential overall rating would be something like 98, Bridgewater's 91. Had Bridgewater been a year younger and came out as-he-is this year, last year - he'd be drafted after Luck and RG3. Bridgewater is the best QB in this draft, he's not a surefire megastar QB like Luck or RG3 (and neither one is a surefire megastar yet).

 

a 91 QB

 

A 91 QB would be drafted higher in Madden fantasy draft even by the CPU than a 98ish DE. That's why you draft a QB. Even the CPU knows.

 

It's fun to talk about... QB is the most important position, agreed. But pass rusher and LT are right up there. I'd also argue that if you don't have a tier 1 or tier 2 QB, then the dropoff between the 8-15 range QB's just isn't significant. Roethlisberger, Eli, Kaepernick, etc... if Bridgewater is a Ryan or Stafford, maybe you have to take him but if he's a Flacco - I'll take my chances with Clowney or Barr.

I'm pretty comfortable saying Bridgewater will not be elite at any point in his career - Manning/Brees/Rodgers/Brady. Clowney has the tools to be an elite pass rusher.

 

The NFL is changing. Has been for the last 2 years. Offense is at the head of that change and i hope unlike you McNair and Smith can see it. We don't need more pass rushers. What this team needs is a legit secondary. Athletic LBs that can stay with TEs that look more and more like WRs.

 

I don't disagree, but defense has a tendency to catch up. Also the Ravens and Giants are the teams coming off Super Bowls, not Chip Kelly's Eagles. The best team in the league might be Seattle, they run an offense similar to the Texans. The high octane offensive teams like Green Bay, New Orleans, NE (formerly) and Denver - they all have ELITE quarterbacks. It's not scheme and evolution of the game that is working for those guys, it's the megastar QB's they have at the helm. Teddy Bridgewater is not projected to be one of those guys. Neither is Derek Carr or Johnny Manziel.

I'm not saying don't draft Bridgewater. I just think if each prospect grades out and develops as expected, Clowney is a franchise talent, Bridgewater might be hanging with the good-but-not-great crowd that includes Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco.

You don't HAVE to solve your QB problem this year. There are so many holes to fill as-is. If you can somehow come away with Clowney or Barr and a QB you believe in in the 2nd round then I'd advocate Clowney/Barr as the guy. Hell, I'd be fine with McCown.

 

The NFL changed in 2005 with the new holding rules in the secondary. Now it's getting even more pass-centric with the defenseless receiver rules and the QB protection. The secret to stopping a pass-centric team is getting to the QB, period. A crap secondary will be chockfull of probowlers if you have a good front 7. The opposite is almost never true. The best defenses today are based around turnovers caused by QB pressure. Moar pass rush for teh pass rush god.

 

Projections are just that. No one knows if any of these top 5 picks will be anything. All it takes is one injury, a few arrests or just a lack of motor to end up like Okoye. Clowney has as many questions marks around him as Bridgewater because of this season. Lack of motor? Lack of giving a **** for his team? Give me Bridgewater and find some ****ing DBs. Hell, if there were an all world CB in this draft I'd rather take him first.

 

Well if that's the case I don't want Rick Smith drafting our pass rushers. He's about 1 for 10 in that department. 1 being JJ Watt.

 

I think in today's NFL, drafting a good/potentially great QB is more important than drafting a great DE. Bridgewater may be more of a risk, but since he's a QB, I think it's a risk you take. QB is MUCH more important to team success than DE.

If you don't solve it this year, then when do you solve it? More importantly, when will you have a better opportunity to solve it than when you have the #1 overall pick? What happens if we go 8-8 next year and have the 20th pick? You can't solve your QB problem with the 20th pick.

 

boomshakalaka!

nailed it. rep'd.

 

True, yet we've spent 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounders on upgrading our pass rush to no avail.

JJ Watt and Antonio Smith are the only true impact defensive players in our front 7. Mercilus, Reed, Montgomery (gone), Travardo Williams (out), all have made minimal to no impacts this season. Even Connor Barwin who signed with the Eagles hasn't made much of an impact with either team over the past 2 seasons.

I don't trust our drafting/scouting to be able to pin point a valid pass rusher thru the draft. Hell I don't even trust them to take a valid QB but I'd take my chances with hitting on Bridgewater with the #1 pick over bombing with Clowney or Barr with the #1 pick.

 

There is free agency... and Rodgers was taken around pick 20. But that's pointless for me to bring up. I should have said we don't have to address QB with the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. We have the 2nd, we have free agency, we have trade. One of Chicago's QB's will be playing for a new team next year. Big Ben is unhappy. Veterans like Warner, Manning, Favre, (in the past) etc... tend to shake loose. It's unpredictable. In a league of unpredictability I think it makes sense to look at BPA.

 

Please don't mention free agency. There is NO money especially for a QB (Thanks again Smith!). Unless you want to low ball Watt who will be the highest paid Defensive player ever next year.

 

Not 100% true.

Letting go of both Smith's (Antonio and Wade), likely cutting D. Manning, cutting Schaub, not resigning Tate, and some other cap cutting moves can easily clear up money for a QB (if that's the direction they want to go).

Watt's extension could happen some time after next season, or the team could always franchise him if they were trying to keep money open for a FA.