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How Can the Houston Texans Maximize Talent of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney?
snipped, read the full analysis: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ximize-talent-of-jj-watt-and-jadeveon-clowneySelecting Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft not only gave the Houston Texans a generational prospect, but also gave J.J. Watt the kind of complementary piece he has never had during his time in the NFL.
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By bringing in Clowney, the Texans should be able to not only get more pressure upfront, but make it more difficult for defenses to gameplan for each individual pass rusher.
Having multiple high-quality pass rushers in today's NFL is massively important for the success of any defense. While there are some teams who can work around a lack of quality upfront, Football Outsiders metric that measures defensive efficiency suggests it's easier to be effective with that kind of pressure upfront.
Code:DVOA Rank Team Rank v Pass [U]Pass Rushers with 7.5+ Sacks[/U] 1. Seattle Seahawks 1 Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril 2. Arizona Cardinals 5 John Abraham, Calais Campbell 3. Carolina Panthers 3 Greg Hardy, Charles Johnson 4. Buffalo Bills 2 Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Jerry Hughes, Marcell Dareus 5. Cincinnati Bengals 4 Carlos Dunlap, Wallace Gilberry 6. New York Giants 8 Justin Tuck 7. Baltimore Ravens 9 Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil 8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11 Gerald McCoy 9. Kansas City Chiefs 7 Tamba Hali, Justin Houston 10. New Orleans Saints 6 Cameron Jordan, Junior Galette
Watt and Clowney together alone won't make the Texans defense a top 10 caliber unit, but defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can make them the foundation of a defense with the potential to be great over the coming seasons.
Even though Clowney will likely play outside linebacker for the Texans, Crennel can move him around and ask him to line up in different spots. When Crennel had Tamba Hali and Justin Houston in 2012, he only asked Hali to drop into coverage on eight percent of his snaps.
Clowney was a phenomenal prospect, but he is also...
Crennel has many options with his defensive front moving forward.
Four Man Front Combinations: Stunting
Although Watt is primarily thought of as a 3-4 defensive lineman, he is so talented that he transcends through the limitations of assignments and schemes.
Watt got to the quarterback 11 times during the 2013 season for 10.5 official sacks. Six of those sacks came on plays when he lined up in a 4-3 defense...
Pocket Collapsing: Coming off the edges
Concentrating the strength of the pass rush in one area can be an effective way of intimidating the offense before the snap and limiting what they can do after the snap. Similar effects can be created with more traditional lineups though.
On the Texans depth chart come the start of the season, Watt will likely be listed as the starting left defensive end and Clowney will likely be listed as the starting right outside linebacker.
Even though Watt is technically an...
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Attacking the Interior: The Clowney, Nix, Watt 3-4 front
While the Texans got the best prospect in the draft, they may have also got the best value when they selected Louis Nix in the third round.
Nix is a nose tackle who starred on Notre Dame's 2012 team that reached the National Championship. After that season, he...
Stressing Space: Clowney, Watt and Blitzing from the other side
Having a pair of high-quality individual pass rushers will make the Texans reluctant to blitz. They will expect to get pressure by just rushing four and dropping the rest of the defense into coverage. However, there will be times when Crennel needs to send more than four after the quarterback.
In 3rd-and-Long situations, the Texans should get creative...
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The above image diagrams a blitz that would make it very difficult for the offense to double team both Clowney and Watt without limiting the number of receivers they can send out in routes. The offense can try to handle this blitz in a variety of ways.
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With this protection call, the running back helps the left tackle while the center and left guard slide to the left.
This means that both Clowney and Watt are double-teamed on the quarterback's blindside. However, this leaves the other three players rushing the passer one-on-one in space. Furthermore, the defense has six players in coverage to cover a maximum of three receivers.
Teams with better left tackles won't be intimidated by Clowney during his rookie season.
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Instead, they will leave their left tackle alone with Clowney, while double teaming Watt. On these plays, the offense will be able to release another receiver into a route, but they will also leave four pass rushers working in one-on-one situations.
Only the bravest of offenses will leave both Clowney and Watt in one-on-one situations.
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Even though the quarterback would have five options to read through in this situation, he likely wouldn't have the chance to do anything but get rid of the ball quickly. In any 3rd-and-Long situation, a quick pass or screen would work in the defenses favour.
Similarly, if the offense decided to roll the pocket away from Clowney and Watt, it would take away half of the field for the quarterback and his receivers.
This is a simple blitz concept. It doesn't feature any stunts or delayed rushes. It doesn't even feature any second-level rushes or disguises. It shows the offense what is coming and relies on the talent of two specific players to shift the number balance in the defense's favour.
3rd-and-Longs always play into the defense's favour, but using Clowney and Watt correctly could push the advantage even further towards the Texans.
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