Conclusion: Take Clowney
Here's the deal, though. If you're the Texans GM, quite frankly, you don't give a **** about any of that.
Or at least you shouldn't.
Why?
Because while this kid may run around a lot of blocks, he makes a hell of a lot of plays doing it.
He doesn't take on pulling guards correctly most of the time, but he damn sure forces a lot of whiffs while making a tackle for loss on counters and power Os. And even though Clowney is still inexplicably raw as a pass rusher after three years in the SEC, he sure does get a lot of friggin' pressure.
The key, in my book at least, is that at outside rushing linebacker in a 3-4, opposing offenses will have to try to block Clowney in space a lot more than they would if he were in a 4-3. The most consistent thing out of all those games is that he looked damn near unblockable in space.
You put him beside J.J. Watt, and SOMEBODY ain't getting double-teamed.
Pick your poison.
Draft him No. 1, and surely somebody on staff or in that locker room can teach him how to do a spin move. And a long arm to a rip. And the correct way to do a swim move.
If the Texans finally give Watt the kind of outside speed rusher beside him that will open things up inside, I have a feeling Clowney will quickly learn how to escape off a block.
(Oh, and if Clowney goes first overall, I'm pretty sure the Texans conditioning staff will make sure he stays in tip-top shape. Heh.)
In many ways, I'm pretty puzzled (and somewhat disappointed) as to how Clowney could have played that much in college and still be this raw technique-wise. It's also because he is still so raw that makes him so attractive as the top overall pick. Unless we find out that Clowney repeatedly refused to learn new things, he should be viewed as a ball of clay just waiting to be molded into an ass-kicking, pass-rushing monster.
If I were Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, I would be in the GM's office every day pounding the table to draft Clowney. The things he could do with a Clowney/Watt combination on third-and-long would keep me up late at night if I were an offensive coordinator in their division. I know they'll have a strong impulse to draft a quarterback with the first pick because of the problems they had there this past season. I get it.
They have a much better chance finding a quarterback somewhere else who will be good enough to take them to the playoffs than they do finding an outside linebacker in free agency who will be the kind of difference-maker that Clowney can be. For that reason, Jadeveon Clowney would be a no-brainer for me if I ran the Texans.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.