It’s an almost unanimous opinion that former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is the best player in the draft at his position. Maybe the No. 1 player overall.
Don’t tell that to former Auburn end Dee Ford.
“I’m better,” Ford said in a radio interview recently. “Let’s put it like this. People like to talk about size all the time. Size is pretty much overrated in my eyes. You can look at guys like Robert Mathis, Elvis Dumervil,Von Miller. These are 6-2 guys and under.
“People are just looking at the fact that he’s a physical specimen. Honestly if you watch the film, (Clowney) plays like a blind dog in a meat market basically.
“I play with a lot of technique. I watch a lot of film. These are the things I do and it shows up.”
Of course Ford is pretty dead on with regards to Clowney, who at this point is more of an athlete than a football player. For all the hype about the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder who likes like he was carved out of granite, there hasn’t been a whole lot of production to back things up.
Last year, Clowney had a mere three sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Yeah, yeah, he was double-teamed on occasion, blah blah blah. But that doesn’t explain how rarely he showed up in games. Meanwhile, Ford had 10.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss.
Maybe he’s got a point.
Not that it matters one iota when it comes to the NFL draft. Just as in recruiting, it’s sometimes smarter to go with potential rather than a finished product. Few players in recent history have as much physical potential as Clowney. Ford’s production, while superior, is nowhere near good enough to warrant any team selecting him ahead of Clowney.
