Before Saturday, the Seahawks weren’t exactly loaded with pass rushers. After trading Frank Clark to the Chiefs for a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 second-round pick and a swap of third-round picks in 2019, Pete Carroll’s team scrambled to fill an edge rotation that once dominated with Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett as the stars. Seattle signed former Lions end Ezekiel Ansah to a one-year, $9 million contract in May and have waited patiently as Ansah recovers from the injuries that limited him to just 146 snaps in 2018. The Seahawks are just hoping Ansah can be the same player who racked up 11 sacks and 37 total pressures in 2017.
In addition, Seattle selected TCU end L.J. Collier with the 29th overall pick in the 2019 draft, but Collier’s progress has been limited by a sprained ankle, and he doesn’t project as a pure edge guy, anyway. That left Carroll with precious few options at defensive end, and that doesn’t work for a defensive head coach who has always had elite pass rushers as part of his palette.
So, as has been the Seahawks’ wont through the tenures of Carroll and general manager John Schneider, the franchise went big on Saturday, trading linebackers Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin, as well as a 2020 third-round pick, to the Texans for the services of Jadeveon Clowney. Seattle was able to rob the Texans in this case for a couple reasons: Clowney is on a one-year rental, he’ll want a major deal after the 2019 season, and Houston blew any leverage they had when they tried to trade Clowney to the Dolphins, and Clowney refused the opportunity. It was obviously wise of the Seahawks to swoop in and address an obvious position of need with a player of Clowney’s athletic potential.
“It’s a big move for us,” Seattle left tackle Duane Brown, who played with Clowney from 2014 through 2017, told ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “He is a game-changer in my opinion. Just spending time with him in Houston, I know he is respected by offensive coordinators, guys that have to prepare for him. I think he will really thrive for us. I know Clowney has to get a physical (for the trade to be official), but he’s excited. I’ve been telling him it’s a reputable organization here. I’m not sure why it all fell apart in Houston. I know how he works. Looking forward to getting him out there with us now.”
Clowney missed all but 144 snaps in his rookie year of 2014 due to a torn meniscus and microfracture surgery. So, he’s basically had four NFL seasons, in which he’s amassed 28 sacks, 43 quarterback hits, 147 quarterback hurries, 152 tackles and 143 stops. Overall, he’s been a better run defender than a pure pass rusher, even on a defensive line that has had him frequently single-teamed as opposing offensive lines have moved to deal with J.J. Watt.
Also, as this clip of Colts guard Quenton Nelson shows, Clowney’s play strength isn’t always optimal.
That said, Clowney brings absolutely freakish athleticism to the position, doing things you simply don’t expect a 6-foot-5, 255-pound human being to do.
In this stop of Colts running back Marlon Mack in the 2018 wild-card round, Clowney has a free run to Mack until right guard Mark Glowinski pulls to block him on the back side. At least, that’s what Glowinski thinks is going to happen. What he doesn’t expect is for Clowney to zap him with a foot fake, bringing Mack down for no gain.
And in Week 5 against the Cowboys, Clowney gives left tackle Tyron Smith — the NFL’s best player 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.
Footwork is the primary engine in Clowney’s game, and it’s a big part of his pass rush as well. Here, in Week 15 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 last season, simply can’t recover in time.
And this sack of Colt McCoy in Week 11 against the Redskins shows how the Texans have used Clowney as an off-the-ball linebacker in different gaps. Specifically, Houston has 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.
And in a way, Clowney’s speed and agility have limited him throughout his NFL career. It’s clear that he wasn’t taught how to use his hands to gain separation against blockers at the college level — most likely because he was athletic enough to transcend that limitation. And based on his NFL tape, I’d venture a guess that Clowney’s coaches didn’t challenge him to develop the rip, swim and hump moves that would increase his sack and pressure totals because it was easier to make him a hybrid linebacker and just let him use his ability to fly through gaps.
That worked well enough to get Clowney to the last three Pro Bowls, but if he’s to hit the proverbial next level as a defensive end and potential inside rusher in Seattle’s specific four-man fronts, he’s going to have to learn to use his hands. Carroll, defensive coordinator Ken Norton and assistant head coach/defensive line coach Clint Hurtt are fundamentalists when it comes to well-rounded skill sets, and Carroll in particular will monitor Clowney’s progress in this regard.
One of the reasons the Seahawks found Frank Clark so attractive in the second round of the 2015 draft, despite a history of domestic violence that had a lot of teams shying away, is that Clark showed a rare ability at the collegiate level to stack and shed and dominate with his hands, and he parlayed that into a contract with the Chiefs that spelled the end of his time in Seattle. When Bennett and Avril were working opposing offensive lines to their advantage, they were both using great handwork as part of the equation.
Clowney is more talented from a raw skills perspective than any defensive lineman Carroll has coached in Seattle, and he should be the next in line to find the finest moments of his NFL career under Carroll’s tutelage.
