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Jadeveon Clowney is one of the most exciting defensive prospects to enter the NFL Draft since Ndamukong Suh back in 2010. The South Carolina pass rusher exploded onto the national scene with a time-altering hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith in the 2013 Outback Bowl. Clowney's promising the world, and NFL teams, will again sit up and take notice next month at the Scouting Combine.
Jadeveon Clowney will participate in all drills at NFL Combine, he says. "The numbers I am going to put up are going to be amazing."
— Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) January 18, 2014
Clowney's already considered a high pick in the draft, a guy that's in play for the second overall spot in the draft ... a spot which the Rams just so happen to have courtesy of their 2012 trade with Washington. A knockout Combine performance -- and you can say what you want about Combine performances, but they do count for something -- could lock him in as the first or second pick in the draft.
If the Rams are looking to trade -- and they're willing to deal -- Clowney delivering on his promise could be very good news. If Houston takes a quarterback with the top pick as expected, Rams GM Les Snead could easily entice another team to move up for the Gamecocks defensive end.
Should Houston pull another Houston and draft a pass rusher instead of the expected offensive player, that works out just as well for the Rams' hopes of a deal -- maybe better -- with Teddy Bridgewater and all the other top 10 QBs still on the board.
Of course, there's also the possibility of the Rams drafting Clowney, who could truly be the best play available to them in the second spot. He was mocked to the Rams in the latest mock draft from SB Nation. And we took a look at how drafting Clowney could play into the team's cap management, with respect to contracts for Chris Long and Robert Quinn.
And if you really want to put on the tin foil hat and get conspiratorial ...
Les Snead's not on Twitter. His wife, Kara Henderson Snead, is. She recently started following Clowney, the only NFL prospect on her list of 336 follows ...
