Jadeveon Clowney
The 2014 draft class presents one of the deepest quarterback and wide receiver classes of recent memory. Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles headline the quarterback class, while Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans represent the wide receivers.
However, the first overall pick of this draft isn’t a quarterback or a wide receiver. He’s not even on the offensive side of the ball.
It’s going to be Jadeveon Clowney out of South Carolina, who is one of the greatest athletes that football has ever seen.
I compare him to LeBron James in the NBA. Both are physically imposing and have athletic skills that people their size shouldn’t have. Clowney is 6 feet 5 inches, 265 pounds and somehow runs a 4.53 40-yard dash, which is faster than Manziel.
Houston would be making a big mistake passing up a once-in-a-lifetime athlete like Clowney. He can make a huge impact on a defense that ranked 23 in run defense last year and had a -22 turnover differential.
If Houston wants to compete in a division with Andrew Luck, the team has to turn their defense around. Clowney is the type of player who can do that in one season. This is why Houston should and will take Clowney with the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
-Alex Kryah
Kahlil Mack
With the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans select Khalil Mack, linebacker, from the University of Buffalo.
Wait, who and from where?
Yes, those are the words that will come out of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s mouth at the beginning of the upcoming NFL Draft. The Houston Texans will pick first overall, barring any trade they make to move out of the number one spot. However, for the sake of this argument, we’ll assume they keep the first overall pick.
Several people think the Texans will take the highly touted Jadeveon Clowney with the first pick in the draft, but I believe selecting Mack will be the best decision the franchise has made since selecting JJ Watt back in 2011.
Mack, the 6’3”, 250-pound linebacker from Buffalo is the most versatile player in the 2014 Draft. General Manager’s are unsure of whether Mack will play inside or outside linebacker, but his best fit is thought to be as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 system.
During his pro day a few weeks ago, Mack’s 40-yard-dash time was clocked at 4.54 seconds. Imagine a pass rusher that big and fast coming off the opposite edge of multi-time pro bowler JJ Watt.
It almost doesn’t seem fair.
-Matt Crusen
