Jadeveon Clowney is the most NFL-ready player in the 2014 Draft, and the Houston Texans have reportedly expressed interest in him with the No. 1 overall pick.Texans owner Bob McNair spoke with high regard to the South Carolina defensive end, giving comparisons to the team's last No. 1 overall pick in Mario Williams. Williams, of course, was a star with the Texans as he racked up 76.5 sacks in eight years with the franchise.
Houston could create a two-headed pass-rushing monster with Clowney and JJ Watt, and it could happen with McNair's interest in the budding star.
"He's one of these players who's a once in every 10 years kind of physical specimen that comes along," McNair told the Texans official website. "Mario Williams was that way. I think Clowney is actually a better athlete than Mario."
This will be the third time in franchise history that the Texans will hold the No. 1 pick. In 2006, they selected Williams, which was a booming success. In 2002, it was a different story with quarterback David Carr.
McNair has been open to trading the team's No. 1 pick in the past, but the connections are there with Houston picking Clowney No. 1, especially with the owner being a former South Carolina alum.
"Like many of these players that have great physical attributes, they didn't have to work as hard in junior high school and high school and in college to be a superlative athlete because they have this natural ability," McNair said of Clowney. "[Clowney is] not a J.J. Watt. J.J. didn't have that natural ability. He worked, he developed his.
"I said, 'J.J., I don't know what will happen, but if we get Clowney, we want you to instill in him the same kind of work habits that you have.' He said, 'If he's in the same room with me, then he'll have them.'"
My bet is that the Texans select Clowney No. 1, with him being the safest pick out of the players being projected in the top 10. In the later rounds, they may select a quarterback or go after a free agent like Michael Vick.
