Success of other rookies puts heat on No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney
It's troubling enough the Houston Texans reportedly have grown frustrated with Jadeveon Clowney's maturity; what's even more problematic is the context: The first round that Clowney led off is shaping up to be one of the most impressive in recent years. And it's populated with players who are showing the kind of work ethic the Texans want to see in their No. 1 pick.
NFL.com reported Sunday morning that Clowney, who was inactive against the Philadelphia Eagles with an illness, wasn't battling physical issues like the team expected. The team wants him to
"start showing some maturity and learn to play through some of these ailments."
It's way too soon to start calling him a bust but draft day disappointments are always made worse by those players the team in question could have selected. The Texans know this very well, as J.J. Watt helped make Blaine Gabbert into a major bust because the Jacksonville Jaguars could have chosen the All-Pro defensive end from Wisconsin instead of the skittish quarterback out of Missouri.
Clowney was chosen over players who have already impressed: Khalil Mack has drawn raves from teammates and opponents for his ferocious play; Blake Bortles wasn't supposed to play all season, and now he's the starter; Sammy Watkins overcame an early injury to star in Buffalo – something the Texans expect Clowney to do – and Anthony Barr won a game last weekend with a defensive touchdown in overtime for the Minnesota Vikings.
There are more examples later in Round 1: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Kyle Fuller, Mike Evans, Zack Martin, Brandin Cooks, Odell Beckham Jr. and Kelvin Benjamin have all played beyond expectations. Even Teddy Bridgewater, the last pick of the first round, has become a starter in Minnesota. Clowney has plenty of time to join the others in every-Sunday roles, but the fact he hasn't is made more disappointing because so many of the others already have begun to pay off.
Clowney's reputation preceded him. He reportedly took himself out of a game last year at South Carolina, which drew some snide comments from head coach Steve Spurrier. When Spurrier was asked during the draft process about Clowney's work ethic, he described it as "OK." Spurrier backtracked on his remarks in both of those situations, but he was hardly the only one to sound alarms. An NFL executive told Yahoo Sports last October that he'd be "scared to death to take [Clowney] if I had a top-10 pick."
So it wasn't a secret that Clowney had some criticism. But it also wasn't a secret that some of the Texans' other options had character strengths in the same areas. It surprised no one when Watkins was up at 6 a.m. during Bills' training camp, running routes by himself. It surprised no one when Bortles mastered a good portion of the Jags' offense and revamped his footwork even before Week 1 rolled around. And it surprised no one when Mack, who was recruited only by Liberty as a prep, arrived in the league with a massive chip on his shoulder. Clowney brought a large reward to go with his risk, but it seems part of Clowney's risk was the reward other teams got because of Houston's decision. That risk is growing every week.
The greatest regret may turn out to be Bortles, which is ironic considering the Jags whiffed on Gabbert in 2011 and allowed Houston to grab a franchise-changing pass rusher in Watt. New head coach Bill O'Brien knew very well how good Bortles was, as he watched the former UCF quarterback beat his Penn State team last season.
"He was extremely complimentary," said UCF offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe during the lead-up to the draft. "He really liked him as a college quarterback."
Bortles hasn't been unstoppable – the Jags came into Sunday at 1-7 – but his new team clearly has a passer of the future and the Texans clearly do not. Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the long-term answer there, and if rookie Tom Savage was close to starting, Houston would likely not have acquired Ryan Mallett.
That may mean the Texans will have to use a future pick on a quarterback. And next year's draft is not as deep in passers as the last class. Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston headline the group, and neither may be around when the Texans pick. Furthermore, neither may be as successful as the 2014 quarterbacks already starting now, including second-rounder Derek Carr.
There's plenty of time for Clowney to live up to his enormous potential; he's a rookie who's barely been healthy, after all. But his draft classmates also have plenty of time to live up to their own potential, and many of them are already ahead of schedule.
No. 1 overall picks aren't just evaluated in a vacuum; they're reviewed in the context of their class. Clowney's class has raised the stakes for the Texans, and made the potential mistake even greater.
