Jadeveon Clowney Not Racking Up Sacks, but Looks Like a Star in Early Action
Jadeveon Clowney doesn't have a sack in his career.
The Houston Texans defensive end was expected to be more productive than that over the first nine games of his career. Even considering his injury issues, Clowney has been on the field enough that it wouldn't be unrealistic to think he should have more than three or four sacks.
Sacks are important for an edge-defender. For obvious reasons, they are second only to turnovers in terms of value for an individual defender. Sacks aren't the ultimate measure of a player's impact, though. Defensive linemen can impact the game positively in many ways without getting sacks.
Clowney may not be racking up sacks, but his overall play has been outstanding. He has consistently shown off the skill set that allowed him to go first overall in the 2014 draft.
Why haven't those performances resulted in sacks? There are a couple of reasons.
The Texans have two exceptional starters in their defensive front. J.J. Watt and Clowney are unblockable at times and instant mismatches when left in one-on-one situations. Apart from Watt and Clowney, though, the Texans front seven doesn't have any pass-rushing threat.
Vince Wilfork hasn't lived up to his reputation as he spends the twilight of his career in Houston. Brian Cushing has constantly been caught out of position this season, while Jared Crick and Whitney Mercilus have proven to be below-average players to this point in their respective careers.
Clowney's teammates are so important to his statistical output because of how teams can approach the Texans' defense with their game plans.
Each of the teams that the Texans have faced this season have altered their game plans to neutralize the Texans' pass rush. Seven-man protections, rolling pockets, screen passes and designed quick throws have all featured prominently against the Texans.
In the seven-man protections, Clowney is regularly double-teamed along with Watt. Teams have been able to do this because the Texans' secondary has struggled to cover fewer receivers running routes and the rest of the front seven has offered no pass-rushing threat to take advantage of the one-on-ones inside.
No matter how good you are as a defensive lineman, getting double-teamed as often as Clowney has is going to suppress your statistical output.
When opponents are specifically scheming to counter your threat as a pass-rusher on the majority of their snaps, it's irrational to judge a player solely by his statistical output. Too many of those plays would be impossible for Clowney, or any defensive end, to get a sack on.
Against the Indianapolis Colts, the offense rolled the pocket away from Clowney on four occasions. He dropped into coverage on five plays and was double-teamed twice. Furthermore, the Colts' primary focus on offense was to get the ball out of Matt Hasselbeck's hands quickly.
By Pro Football Focus' measure, Hasselbeck threw the ball after 2.12 seconds on average . That is exceptionally quick and would have ranked second only to Eli Manning the previous week.
This kind of adjustment from the offense limits what they can do, but it shifts the focus onto players not named Watt or Clowney to make plays. Until the duo's teammates make those plays, teams will continue to get rid of the ball quickly, move the pocket and use seven-man protections.
Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel could make it tougher for opposing offenses to game plan for them by moving Watt around more and never dropping Clowney into coverage. Pro Football Focus has Clowney dropping into coverage eight times this season, eight times more than he ever should.
Clowney's impact on opposing offenses can be seen on the field even if not in the official stat sheet. Even considering all of the context, Clowney has still been unfortunate not to get his first sack.
Every single week this season Clowney has come close to bringing the quarterback down. He has an abnormal number of plays where he has beaten a blocker or worked through a double-team to miss taking the quarterback down by milliseconds.
The 22-year-old recently spoke about his close shaves, via Statesman.com:
"“You watch the game and you see guys hitting him, and then I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get to him,’” he said. “Then you (are) so close and don’t get there, so it’s kind of frustrating. But you’ve got to keep going.”
"
Generally, when a pass-rusher is constantly getting close to a quarterback without success, he will eventually become a consistent sack-getter. When that rusher is constantly getting close despite added attention and scheming for him, he's a special talent.
What makes Clowney such a rare talent is his diversity as a pass-rusher. He is officially listed at 6'5" and 266 pounds, but those measurements don't do his explosiveness and athleticism justice. Clowney can line up inside and overwhelm guards with his bull rush and still beat tackles with his quickness outside.
On this play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his sheer power is evidenced as well as his incredible balance.
Clowney initially lined up at left defensive tackle. At the snap, he was in space against the right guard but was quickly drawing a double-team. Clowney used a spin move to get away from the right guard, but his motion meant that he never saw the center arriving.
Your typical above-average NFL defensive tackle would have likely been knocked to the ground at this stage. Not Clowney. He absorbed the hit and set his feet beneath him.
Clowney's athleticism allowed him to isolate himself against the center and disregard the actions of the right guard. Despite showing off that stoutness and power against contact, he also had the quickness to use a swim move against the center.
That swim move allowed him to sweep past the offensive lineman and close on the quarterback in the pocket.
Jameis Winston, the quarterback on this play, wasn't sacked by Clowney but was forced into a hurried throw that went directly to an underneath defender for an interception. He may not have gotten the statistical recognition on the play, but Clowney created the pressure that led to the turnover.
And he did so against a double-team of offensive linemen who should theoretically be stronger than him based on the positions they play.
Winning from the interior in the NFL is hugely valuable, but Clowney primarily plays on the outside. Winning against offensive tackles, left tackles in particular, is what the Texans will expect him to do over the length of his career.
Against the Carolina Panthers, Clowney was able to dominate against Michael Oher. The Panthers repeatedly sent double-teams in Clowney's direction to protect Cam Newton in the pocket.
On this play, Clowney is going to get a legitimate one-on-one opportunity to rush against Oher. Oher has a tight end outside of him and a running back behind him, but neither player is going to look to engage Clowney at any point in the play.
The defensive end is able to comfortably beat the veteran tackle and is extremely unfortunate to not force a fumble.
Although Clowney will never be able to bend the edge like a DeMarcus Ware or Vic Beasley, he has the explosiveness to beat offensive tackles around the edge by relying on his sheer power and size to fend off their attempts to repel him.
He didn't get the strip-sack, but he did connect with Newton's arm and forced an incomplete pass.
Even if Clowney had struggled to this point in his career as a pass-rusher, there would be no real reason to panic. If he hadn't suffered a major knee injury and still struggled to perform at all through his first nine games, there would still be no reason to worry about the long-term.
Players take time to develop. Clowney hasn't needed time to develop. He's been exceptional from the first week of this season.
Rushing the passer will always be the main focus for any edge defender, but run defense is extremely valuable as well. Clowney can still develop to be a more disciplined run defender, but he has flashed just as much in run defense as he has in pass defense.
He has the strength to set the edge with the explosiveness to penetrate past blockers and disrupt plays in the backfield. The speed at which he moves for a player of his size is unnatural and shows up as much against the run as it does against the pass.
A perfect storm has come together to prevent Clowney from registering a sack this season. Sometimes these stretches simply happen, sometimes they are explainable.
For Clowney, it's a bit of both. Like Robert Quinn last season, he can feel unfortunate for just missing out on so many plays but also heartened by how his teammates have supported him. Quinn opened the season without a sack for five games before registering 10.5 for the season.
With the Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett quarterback-carousel set to take another turn, it's easy to argue that the Houston Texans should have selected a quarterback instead of Clowney in 2014. Even though the team would be better off with a quarterback, Clowney isn't a bust.
Clowney looks set to be a generational player. If the Texans fail to build well around he and J.J. Watt, it's neither individual's fault, but the fault of the franchise.
.jpg?w=480 "Giants Browns Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Cardinals Bengals Football")
