[SI] How Clowney Fits

Nothing new in this article for me but it does break down the 34/43 "fit" myth pretty well. There was never any question where Clowney would line up. There was never a need to debate Barr or Mack being better fits. For a lot of fans this article may come as a wake up call. It should also dampen expectations for Nix. Although I know stopping the run is priority #1 and Nix should be a huge part of that.

 

Yup, you pretty much nailed it. It was always laughable when people would say that Barr or Mack were "better fits" than Clowney. Hopefully people learn something this time through.

 

No i'm sure they'll keep trolling

 

Like the article states, most 3-4 teams are rarely in the base 3-4 formation in today's pass-happy NFL. Most of the time it's more like a 4-2-5 or 4-1-6 formation. Clowney will be playing in the traditional DE position in these formations.

 

It's not just fans, it's media. It's everyone. It sounds good so people say it. If Nix pans out and can help keep teams from running at Clowney or Merciless on the early downs. We're really cooking with something. If somehow Nix/Clowney/Watt turn out to be what you're building the franchise around because they're that good (and young). That's exciting. But I'm probably hoping for too much out of a 3rd rounder. And Clowney still needs to prove he can bring it and diversify his attack.

 

I don't know if it's trolling or if they just don't have a very strong grasp of the game. We heard the same ridiculous BS when the Texans drafted Watt and moved Mario to OLB where he racked up a sack a game before getting hurt. I think some people just don't understand that a 3-4 elephant LB essentially is the same thing as a DE in a 4-3, especially when they are in sub packages 60-70% of the time.

I think they get fooled by the names because they don't truly understand the responsibilities.

 

#1. Mario was a veteran with polished pass rushing skills when Wade came in. It's probably a lot different to make that switch than being a new to the NFL rookie (and the defense was just as good if not better after Mario got hurt).

#2. Wade's one gap 3-4 is a lot different from RAC's two gap 3-4. The one gap 3-4 is arguably similar to a 4-3 defense (which is probably why the Texans already had 4-3 personnel).

You can't use Mario as your example when Wade and RAC run completely different versions of the 3-4 defense. Only a person without a "very strong grasp of the game" would do that

 

We don't know what Crennel will do. O'Brien wants to stop the run, then keep the opponent on their toes with different looks. Regardless, the role of the rushing linebacker isn't changing much regardless of who's coaching or what the scheme is. Watt's usage on 15-35% of downs per game is much more of a question mark than Clowney's.

 

Fact remains we don't know how Clowney will perform standing up, there are DE's who don't make that transition smoothly. And J.J. is built for a 4-3 defense. You don't take a guy like J.P.P. and put him in a 3-4 and that's what they are doing with J.J. That's really my biggest concern.

And we don't know what Romeo will do but his background is two gap 3-4 and that KC defense really only had one good year under him.

Maybe it will work just fine... But an article doesn't necessarily mean it will.

 

Crenell would get fired if he made JJ a regular 3-4 end in "his" system.

Clowney and Watt will have there hands in the dirt on third down shooting the gap/edge.

 

I agree with you on some of the Crennel points and Watt. Just not Clowney. He'll be the same player here he would have been in Phillips' 34. And Clowney is every bit as athletic as Mack or Barr. And if he wasn't, you still take him and play 43. Either way we're not going to see much base.

 

They've said many times that they plan on using a multiple front defense. They aren't going to 2 gap JJ, and the elephant (pass rushing) LB role doesn't significantly change between one gap and 2 gap schemes. The ability of Clowney to play DE in sub packages as well as the elephant in base packages made him FAR more versatile and valuable than either Barr or Mack since neither of them could line up at DE.

 

Still _ don't know how Clowney will translate into the NFL standing up. And being athletic doesn't mean he would be as good as Mack standing up at the OLB position. We've at least seen Mack play the position in college. We're just riding on blind faith that Clowney can.

Yea, I keep hearing that 60-70% of the time that Romeo will have both J.J. and Clowney in a 4 man front... Well if that's the case _ they should have hired a 4-3 DC because that's not necessarily Romeo's field of expertise. That's like going to a podiatrist to treat a headache.

We'll see how it works though.

 

Good grief people are dense.

Crennel has never run a 2gap 34 defense on all downs. Never. Not one single stop.

The idea that just because Crennel's base defense has been a 2gap 34 in the past he can't run a nickel system is crazy.

I'm about to blow your mid: Romeo Crennel coached defenses have played nickel and dime packages before.

BOOM!

 

I'm sure he's already got it figured out.

 

He's going to have to figure it out, though, because if he doesn't, I promise you other teams will stop lining up in 10 personnel or other pass happy formations, and go 21 personnel and run right at him until he does.

Clowney ' s ability to look credible in the base package will influence how often other teams put them in a position to run the base package.

 

I don't think run defense will be a problem, given how much teams ran away from him in college this year. I don't if another player has ever been feared on the college level as much.

 

Clowney is great against the run.

 

I could pull 3 or 4 clips of him getting completely walled off by the TE and only a TE against UNC last year as South Carolina was gashed for 10 yards+ right at him, or against Clemson, or Arkansas. This is the time of the year, between the draft and preseason, that people start to build guys way up in their head. Anybody remember the debates about whether Jeremy Lamb was going to average 20, or "only" 15? And then the first preseason game comes around and what is in your head is suddenly slammed back into alignment with reality. It happens every year in the GARM. No reason not for it to happen here too.

Clowney is amazing in pursuit. If you don't run at him he is awesome. If you run at him, he is very ordinary. There's nothing wrong with that. He is, after all, 265lbs. When a 325 lb behemoth locks onto him and tries to drive him, its a matter of brute strength. He's not going to stand up at the point of attack like Gilbert Brown, and that's alright. LT in his prime couldn't push back Anthony Munoz when he was trying to run block him, either. F=MA. He is not the demi-god some people have built him up to be in their minds. Laws of physics apply to him too. I'm afraid some people are going to be in for a rude awakening come training camp when he gets a cut on his elbow, and actual blood comes out.

But we'll forget that now, we'll just go with the narrative that he was already the best player in the NFL last year playing DE for South Carolina.

But what can he do as a stand up OLB? That is kind of the whole point of the thread. That we don't need to worry about Clowney having to learn to play as a stand up OLB, because he never will... unless he does because the other teams make him do it.

If the other team comes out in the 22 heavy package, no matter how creative he is, RAC isn't going to be countering that with the dime. If you do that, you end up with a 5'9" slot corner on a TE, and 6 points, Brady to Gronkowski, as Brandon Harris helplessly looks on like Fay Wray trying to stop King Kong from scaling the Empire state Building. If the other team trots out 22 personnel, RAC is coming with some variation of the base package that involves Clowney as a Sam.

The offense, ultimately, dictates what the defense will do. The article states he won't be in the base package often so we don't need to worry if he is able to play it, but if he has trouble as a stand up LB in the base package, teams will run sets that require the defense to run the base package. That is exactly what Belichick does every week. He finds the weak spot in the defense and just picks, and picks, and picks.

Ultimately, the only way Clowney actually doesn't have to play stand up outside linebacker very often is when he proves to teams that he is competent doing so.