With less than a week until the draft, Jadeveon Clowney must be feeling pretty good. The defensive end is predicted to go No. 1 overall and every team is fighting to get him. Clowney is being viewed as one of those once-in-a-lifetime players and given the uncertainty with starting a rookie Week One, the defensive end is the favorite in almost every mock draft. So who gets him?
The Houston Texans have the No. 1 overall draft pick. Picking Clowney is an easy assumption. However, the team also has JJ Watt who just had his fifth-year option picked up by the Texans. Clowney and Watt could form an excellent pass rushing tandem, but the Texans also have other needs to fill and using the top pick on a player who's position is filled might be a waste.
The Texans general manager Rick Smith noted that he already knows which players he wants in this year's draft. Having the pick of the litter certainly makes that easy. Johnny Manziel could be that player in mind. Houston needs a quarterback. He is considered one of the best available. Blake Bortles is also an option. However, with a deep draft, both players are non-essential, unlike Clowney.
Plenty of teams want Clowney, mainly the Atlanta Falcons. They have had their eye on the defensive end during the entire pre-draft process and have hinted that a big draft deal could be in their future. However, according to SportsRadio 610 Houston, there is no deal in making between the Falcons and the Texans.
According to the radio station, the Falcons are not interested in trading up to the very top spot in the draft for fear of having to give up too much. Could the Falcons take the risk and move up to No. 2, hoping the Texans draft a quarterback and leave Clowney to them? The St. Louis Rams are also favoring a jump down since the team does not need a first-round quarterback and favors more draft picks over Clowney.
With a week until the draft, smokescreens are everywhere and essentially everything is speculation, so fans should not take anything too seriously. The Texans could be acting like they want the pick in order to drive up the price. The Falcons could be acting uninterested in order to make the move cheaper. NFL rumors, cannot live with them, cannot live without them.
