You have to *really* watch Jadeveon Clowney to see the difference he makes for the Seahawks

Think back to all those folks who loudly doubted that Jadeveon Clowney was legit after he went No. 1 overall to the Texans. How quick some were to label him a bust after a slow, injury-filled start to his career. Not only did he not let that criticism get to him, he just put his head down and kept working his ass off until his play could shut every single one of those doubters up. I have to say it’s mighty quiet in those corners these days.

I still don’t quite understand the Texans’ decision to not offer him a contract on par with his value to that defense, but their reluctance continues to pay huge dividends for the Seahawks after they traded for him right before the start of the season. Because he missed pretty much the whole offseason, including padded practices in the preseason, he had gotten off to a somewhat slow start at the beginning of the year, but now he is looking like the Clowney of old.

Actually, he’s looking a little better.

At this point in his career, the guy is a cosmic-level game wrecker, plain and simple. It’s hard to even quantify the damage he does to opposing offenses with any sort of statistics. There are just so many things he does that don’t really translate to a stat sheet, but those plays end up making a difference in the game. Even when he isn’t the one making the play, Clowney will often be so disruptive that he clears a path for his teammates to make the play. You have to actually watch the guy play if you really want to get a feel for the true impact he has.

The Seahawks’ 24-21 overtime win over the formerly undefeated 49ers was a prime example of this.

Just to illustrate for those of you who weren’t fortunate enough to stay up and watch his magnificent performance, and to show you just how much credit Clowney deserves for the Seahawks pulling out that division road win, let me do something different and list all of the plays in which Clowney was a factor for Seattle’s defense on Monday night.

LDE = Left Defensive End
RDE = Right Defensive End

First Quarter

15:00 (RDE): Absolutely destroyed 49ers right guard Mike Person, who was pulling on a counter play, and knocked him back into running back Tevin Coleman before Clowney came off the block and tackled Coleman for a 1-yard gain.

12:38 (LDE): Beat right tackle Mike McGlinchey with a quick jab ole on the line of scrimmage, and pressured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo into an incompletion and laid a nice hit on him to boot.

12:33 (LDE): Ripped inside of tight end Garrett Celek, who pulled across the formation on a play-action pass, and ran right through Garoppolo’s chest as Clowney forced Garoppolo into another incompletion.

2:42 (RDE): After exiting earlier with an apparent ankle injury, he came back in the game after San Francisco made it all the way down to the Seattle 14-yard line. Clowney immediately made a tackle on rookie wide receiver Deebo Samuel out in space on a jet sweep by forcing him out of bounds after stunting inside and taking on left guard Laken Tomlinson’s reach block.

Second Quarter

10:11 (LDE): Slid inside of McGlinchey with a quick jab ole again at the line of scrimmage, ran through Person’s attempt to help out, and pressured Garoppolo into another incompletion.

9:31 (RDE): Got a clean win on left tackle Joe Staley with a two-step hump move and got to Garoppolo just as he was completing a pass to Kendrick Bourne. Clowney finished the play by slinging Garoppolo to the ground.

2:57 (RDE): Executed a perfect scoop-and-score after his teammate, defensive tackle Jarran Reed, caused Garoppolo to fumble the football while sacking him. Clowney outraced Staley with an arm-over, and that touchdown put the Seahawks on the scoreboard for the first time all game.

2:05 (RDE): After coming inside on a pass-rush game, Clowney drove Tomlinson back into Garoppolo’s lap, then used his 37.5-inch vertical to put himself right into Garoppolo’s passing lane, which forced Jimmy G to deliver the ball a tad too high down the field to his receiver, Dante Pettis, on third-and-14.

Third Quarter

10:56 (RDE): Shot by Staley with a quick out-in-out move at the line of scrimmage and forced Garoppolo to step up into the waiting arms of Reed and defensive tackle Poona Ford, who took him down for a 5-yard loss. The 49ers turned the ball over on downs two plays later.

4:37 (RDE): Ripped right through tight end Ross Dwelley on an inside move vs. a play-action pass look and hit Garoppolo up top, but missed the sack. However, Clowney’s pressure allowed his teammate, defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson, to lay a big hit on Garoppolo right after he avoided Clowney. Jefferson was flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact on Garoppolo, so technically those plays didn’t happen. If you ask Garoppolo, I’d bet he would say both of those hits definitely happened, though.

4:20 (RDE): Forced Garoppolo into a throwaway on a tight end screen after the 49ers chose to leave him unblocked.

3:46 (LDE): Drove McGlinchey right back into Garoppolo’s lap, then came off inside and knocked the ball out of Garoppolo’s hand with his inside (right) hand for a sack and fumble, which Ford recovered at the 49ers’ 24-yard line. The Seahawks would score a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Fourth Quarter

7:09 (LDE): Completely fooled McGlinchey with a quick out-in-out move for a clean win outside and jumped into Garoppolo’s throwing lane again on an RPO to force him to the hold on to the ball. That allowed defensive tackle Al Woods to sack Garoppolo for a 5-yard loss after the 49ers had already made it down to the Seahawks’ 16-yard line. The 49ers would end up settling for a field goal on that drive.

1:39 (RDE): Ran slap over Staley and knocked him right on his ass. Clowney just about pressured Garoppolo into throwing a game-ending interception to linebacker K.J. Wright, but Wright flat-out dropped it.

1:16 (RDE): Jacked up Staley a few steps with a power rush, then fell off inside on what looked like a late-developing pass-rush game. Then Clowney gave Tomlinson the business and worked to get past him cleanly. Clowney was about to reach out with his inside (left) arm and grab Garoppolo by his left arm, pressuring him again into almost throwing a game-ending interception. This time it was linebacker Bobby Wagner who appeared to have feet for hands.

Overtime

5:34 (RDE): Did a great job playing tight end Levine Toilolo’s cut-off block from the backside of a fullback lead zone running play away from him, chasing it down to make the tackle on Raheem Mostert after a short gain.

4:58 (RDE): Whipped Staley again with a quick out-in-out move at the line of scrimmage, then ripped inside of Mostert to force Garoppolo into scrambling out of the pocket and into a throwaway.

4:11 (RDE): Blew up Person on an influence trap play once again, knocking him into Mostert, and tackling Mostert for no gain. The Seahawks would hold up on the next play, leading to a field goal attempt that would ultimately go awry.

Now that, folks, is one hell of a game!

After watching him tear the 49ers a new one, I went back and read my old draft breakdown of Clowney (his was the first one I’d ever done for SB Nation). It brought back a lot of memories I hadn’t thought about in a long time. There were folks questioning everything from his heart to his hustle back then. And some of the criticism that I disagreed with the most came from people whose football minds I respected a lot.

Back then, I was just getting my feet wet in the draft analyst game, and I’ll be honest and say that some of that talk did make me second-guess my assessment of Clowney. But the more I saw of him in the pros, the more convinced I became that I was right about him from the start.

In between injuries for his first few years, Clowney continued to flash that incredible ability I saw from him in college. I saw enough of those “wtf” plays that I was confident if he could just stay healthy for an extended period of time, he was going to dominate.

Remember that big tackle for a loss in the bowl game Clowney made at South Carolina? Well, for me, the most impressive part of that play wasn’t the big hit at the end. Instead, it was the rare quickness he displayed in beating the blocker to get himself in position to make that play that had me amped. I knew that kind of quickness would be hell for NFL blockers to try to deal with.

Now that he’s back to being completely healthy, I’m used to seeing him make those same kinds of breathtaking plays in the league on a weekly basis.

One of the things that irritated the shit out of me about how Clowney played when he was in Houston was how he would rely so heavily on his bull rush, even though he was and is so physically gifted. The guy is a damn load, obviously, but with his athleticism, it was criminal that he was running down the middle of offensive tackles most of the game, instead of mixing in more finesse moves to keep blockers on their toes.

I don’t know if they are coaching him up different now in Seattle, or if he has just matured as a pass rusher, but Clowney is constantly working to an edge and using his bull rush as more of a changeup.

You love to see it!

Unless, of course, you are Jimmy Garoppolo or any of the other quarterbacks he has or will face this season.

Keep in mind, Clowney is set to be a free agent next spring if the Seahawks can’t find a way to extend him before then. If you are wondering why your team should try to sign him if it gets to that, but you haven’t actually watched him play much, please don’t pay any attention to the fact that he only has three sacks on the year. Clowney has been getting a ton of pressures all season, and what you read in this post is indicative of what he can bring to any team in the NFL.

The price of the brick will keep going up as the season rolls on. He has shown that he can thrive as an outside linebacker or as a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end, as well as a situational interior pass rusher and blitzer as well. He can be destructive no matter where you line him up and if your team wants him, it just might have to take out a loan to help cover the freight. The scary part is now that he has finally knocked all the rust off, he will probably see a jump in his sack totals in the second half of the season, too.

As a matter of fact, if Clowney keeps playing this way, he may just find himself and his team within striking distance of a earning a ring at the end of this season.

He has already been worth every penny of the franchise deal he is playing on this season for the Seahawks.