And then Clowney makes Mario look like Cush, and we watch Bridge or Manziel win rookie of the year. Not saying that happens, but this isn't a slam dunk decision. And saying the class is weak on QBs because there's no player like Luck, come on, he's a once a decade prospect. Gonna be a loooong four months til draft day.
You could take Clowney #1 if you are sold on another gettable QB. Here are five winners from Saturday's East-West Shrine Game: 1. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois Garoppolo stood out as the best player during the week of practice and he put together a strong performance during the game on Saturday. He showed very quick feet in his setup, a lightning-quick release and accuracy to all three levels. I was very impressed with the command and poise he displayed in the pocket. He has built up a lot of momentum heading into the Reese's Senior Bowl (Jan. 25 on NFL Network). http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...lo-was-biggest-winner-at-eastwest-shrine-game Height: 6 ft 3 in Weight: 222 lb
I'm not a scout or anything, but this guy looks like he isn't even a top 10 QB in this draft. Yeah he's on the "winners list", but that's because of what was expected of him. He may get drafted in the late rounds as a project/formidable backup. For anyone to say he's the best QB in the class is a little weird to me. Not sure what makes him so good in your opinion? Please enlighten us Remii.
I'm not a scout or a coach either Prime. But if you want to know why I like the kid _ because just about everything that is said about Teddy (on and off the field) is said about him. Just like Teddy doesn't have to look to the sideline and get plays to move the ball down the field, neither does he. And he threw for 5050 yards, 53 TDs, 9 Ints in the process... He's a surgeon throwing the ball. And he really is 6'3 220... Of course you have to worry about the conference he played in _ that's why I like him as a late pick. But as of now, they actually have him ranked #9 amongst QBs so he is in the to 10. But I think with O'Brien he could end up being the best out this bunch in a year or two.
You can just go on odds, IMO Clowney is by far the best prospect in the draft, Manziel isn't even an NFL caliber QB and Bridgewater is a decent NFL prospect. Odds are that Manziel is a total bust, but he could win ROY like Vince Young did, Bridgewater will be somewhere around average to above average if he lands on the right team and can stay healthy but the combo of Watt and Clowney could be one of the all time great defensive combos.
i'm no scout but i watched the east/west shrine game and he was the best of the scrubs. very average looking and threw some terrible balls.
Pass rush is a necessity, the Texans had pretty much no pass rush outside of Watt when they weren't blitzing allowing teams to tear them up. Picking up Clowney would give the Texans pressure on the QB when they are only sending 4 guys, something infinitely valuable in the era of QB's. When you blitz, you leave someone open, when you don't blitz if you can't get pressure then QB's can sit in the pocket forever till someone comes open. Also, we shouldn't create a false dichotomy, using the first pick on Clowney, the best player in the draft, doesn't mean that we couldn't draft a QB so it's not like we wouldn't have a QB if we drafted Clowney. 3 of the 4 teams still in the playoffs have QB's not drafted in the first round. 2 of those teams built their defenses first, I see nothing wrong with the 49ers/Seahawks plan because the alternative is to pray that we happen to land the next Brady or Manning.
Also, you could draft Clowney, keep Chase and add McCown: Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 1h Bears free-agent-to-be QB Josh McCown, who some thought could retire this off-season, has no intention to retire now. Wants to keep playing. Garoppolo projects into the 3rd. You could for sure get him with the first pick in the 3rd. if you want him. Out of this list there will probably be at least one All-world QB. The problem is which one? Is it one you can draft later than #1? 3 Teddy Bridgewater QB 1 Louisville Jr 6-3 205 1 6 Blake Bortles QB 2 UCF rJr 6-3 230 1 8 Johnny Manziel QB 3 Texas A&M rSo 6-0 210 1 26 Derek Carr QB 4 Fresno State rSr 6-3 218 1-2 68 Zach Mettenberger QB 5 LSU rSr 6-5 235 2-3 104 David Fales QB 6 San Jose State Sr 6-2 220 3-4 110 Jimmy Garoppolo QB 7 Eastern Illinois Sr 6-2 225 3-4 127 A.J. McCarron QB 8 Alabama rSr 6-3 214 4 153 Brett Smith QB 9 Wyoming Jr 6-2 206 4-5 159 Tajh Boyd QB 10 Clemson rSr 6-1 225 5 172 Aaron MurrayInjured QB 11 Georgia rSr 6-1 208 5-6 229 Connor Shaw QB 12 South Carolina Sr 6-0 209 6-7 258 Logan ThomasvvvVirginia Tech rSr 6-6 254 7-FA
You could also probably get someone like Mettenburger in the 3rd as well. He's a guy that would have been potentially a first rounder if not for the knee injury, could be a steal. This QB class is weird, it's deep, but has not top tier talent.
Honestly, I wouldn't take any position off the board at this point. We've got a lot of needs. I agree that no single position can change the fortunes of a team more than QB. But More important than filling a positional need is getting the pick right. We have to hit on this pick. I want the best game-changing can't miss prospect, and I don't really care what position it is because we need another DE, OLB, QB, RT, LG, ILB, etc... Hell, why not draft Sammy Watkins, shore up the RT and LG and bring Schaub back on a renegotiated contract. Watkins is the kind of game-changing can't miss prospect I'm talking about, and call me crazy, I wouldn't mind seeing what OBrien can do with Schaub before I declare him Jake Delhomme lost.
At this point with all the noise being made about everyone, I actually find myself ok with any of four options discussed: 1. Draft Bridgewater 2. Draft Clowney 3. Draft Manziel (yes I'm even ok with this now) 4. Trade down Manziel the more and more I watch him really does seem to be another version of Michael Vick. He probably won't be the centerpiece behind a Superbowl champion, but then again there's no one we could pick that you would say that about. Once people see how he plays in the NFL, no one will blame us for taking him. It's only over time when we see how he holds up (or doesn't) in health giving his hazardous tendencies will a verdict finally be passed on whether or not we made the right decision in picking him. He's a distant third choice for me, but I wouldn't be upset if we did it. Nationally he's starting to gain traction as a top 3-5 pick. The one guy I would be absolutely pissed if we drafted would be Bortles. The entire country would laugh in our faces. It would be a huge embarrassment, and the teams picking after us would delight in having Bridgewater and Manziel fall to them. It would be akin to the Raiders picking Jamarcus Russell, followed by a decade of jokes from other NFL fans just saying "the Raiders are the most poorly run franchise in the NFL". We would be like that; we would become a laughingstock. With Bridgewater or Clowney you wouldn't sniff a single dose of disdain from anyone. Fans of rival teams might be rooting for us to fail with them, but they would still fear our chances of success.
I like your points. I'm one for trading down but going with Clowney may be the best bet. The Texans have an opportunity to hand Romeo the best front 7 he has ever had. Especially if Cush can get back healthy and hopefully Merciless will turn the corner as well. That's three 1st rounders in the linebackers core with J.J. on the line. We're much closer to having a defense like San Francisco (and their DBs are no better than ours) than drafting one of these QBs with the #1 pick and having an offense like Green Bay's.
In my opinion, It's not the best front 7 Romeo has ever had. If we drafted Clowney, we'd have two sick DEs and a sick ILB coming off his second major knee injury. We have no NT. We have no other ILB. We have no 2nd OLB (Brooks Reed is not a passrush er). We don't know what we have in Merculus yet. So...ILB, NT, OLB are all holes and we have no depth at those positions either. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, but even if we draft Clowney, we're still a ways away from having a dominant front 7.
I think it could be, but it would take more than one draft pick. There is a good chance Brooks Reed moves inside and I can all but guarantee we draft a NT. As to OLB, Clowney would be that second OLB, Crick would take Ninja's spot at DE. With Clowney and Watt, Romeo would have the best pash rush since he had Seymour and McGinest which was a time where he had a top 2 scoring defense.
Just to add an 80% Cush is probably just as good if not better than a Bruschi. If Cush gets back to 100% that's gravy.
