And it’s not that the sack and pressure totals are a problem if Clowney is balling out and creating opportunities for others — which he does, at times. But there are also dismemberments like this from 2018, when Indy’s Quenton Nelson (who is the league’s best guard by far, to be fair) absolutely takes Clowney to the woodshed.
In which Quenton Nelson pulls two gaps and wrestles Jadeveon Clowney right into the NRG Stadium parking lot. pic.twitter.com/L4VXkD3d3W
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 20, 2019
You have to hope you’re going to get stuff like this, from Week 5 of the 2018 season. Here, Clowney gives Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith — one of the NFL’s best players at his position — a ridiculous okey-doke at the line of scrimmage, allowing him to drop Ezekiel Elliott for a 1-yard loss. You rarely see the hyperathletic Smith this out of position, but Smith isn’t expecting the end he’s blocking to exhibit footwork you might see from a slot receiver.
In Week 15 of the 2018 season against the Jets, Clowney drops Sam Darnold by setting left tackle Kelvin Beachum up for failure. Watch how Clowney pins Beachum inside with a jab step and then moves quickly outside to ride the arc. Beachum, who allowed just three snaps and three quarterback hits in 604 pass-blocking snaps that season, simply can’t recover in time.
And this sack of Colt McCoy in Week 11 in 2018 shows how the Texans used Clowney as an off-the-ball linebacker in different gaps. Specifically, Houston liked to use Clowney as a gap penetrator against guards, who generally don’t have the physical attributes to match up to what Clowney does. Here, rookie guard Geron Christian has no answer for Clowney moving around him. Christian can barely get his hands up before Clowney moves past him for the takedown. You may expect more of this under Vrabel’s charge.
And then, there was Clowney’s signature game with the Seahawks — a 27-24 Week 10 overtime win in which a healthy Clowney got the hang of Seattle’s pass-rush concepts and absolutely demolished every San Francisco offensive lineman in his path. He was absolutely the star of the show, with one sack, all four of Seattle’s quarterback hits, and six of the team’s 14 hurries. Those hits and hurries were important. Clowney’s ability to swing past right tackle Mike McGlinchey with a vicious inside move on this Garoppolo attempt to receiver Marquise Goodwin turned the play into an airball for the quarterback.
And Clowney’s one sack really mattered. Once again, McGlinchey is Clowney’s huckleberry, and once again, it’s not a fair fight. This time, he gives the right tackle a little foot-fake to get him off his base and then puts McGlinchey on a trackback to the quarterback. He then strips Garoppolo of the ball — a fumble recovered by defensive tackle Poona Ford.
