If last week's display against the Saints is any indication, Jadeveon Clowney is ready to wreak havoc on the NFL.
The Texans pass rusher left his mark on New Orleans, using brute strength to plow right through tackle Andrus Peat en route to a 14-yard sack of Drew Brees.
Clowney nearly notched a second takedown by doing the same thing to tackle Zach Strief, feverishly bull-rushing the stunned blocker like a shiny child's balloon.
"I like the sack that he got. I like that he was physical. It looks like his effort was good. Hopefully, we'll keep getting that," Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel told the Houston Chronicle, noting that Clowney doesn't need a wide arsenal of pass-rushing moves to create chaos -- not yet, at least.
"If he can keep running them over and getting sacks, maybe one move will be good enough," Crennel said. "You know everybody in this league is pretty good. He's going to run into some guys where he'll have to use some alternative stuff and he has that in his repertoire. He's been working on it. We'll keep working and see how good he can become."
Clowney has been misidentified as a draft whiff, largely because early career injuries kept him off the field. The former No. 1 overall pick, though, appeared in 13 games last season and comprehensively stood out on film as a nasty run-stuffer and physical freak.
As Gregg Rosenthal accurately noted in his Making the Leap post on the 6-foot-5, 265-pound outside linebacker, "Clowney doesn't shed blockers; he tosses them."
We want everything to bloom immediately -- that's the world right now -- but the development of NFL players doesn't happen uniformly. Some burst onto the scene, others slow-cook into stars. In his third season, Clowney appears ready to make good on his outrageous potential.
