I usually agree with you, but not this time. You can say you think Clowney is more athletic, but to say it is not close is a bit much. Chris had the better career in college (compare his 2007 to JC's 2012 for instance). He also has very similar if not better combine measurables. I am not talking about height/weight...I am talking about short shuttle, 40yd, 10yd, etc. How can you say that they are not "close"? Those are athletic measurements that are not only close, but in some cases favor CL. Time will tell if JC is all that some have him cracked up to be, but based on performance to date, he is absolutely comparable to CL, as well as many other "next big things" to come out at that position in the last ten years.
Chris Long:
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Clowney:
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I don't believe it is a bit much. Long has always been an underrated athlete and has a great get-off(10 yard split reflects that) but on tape, it's not close between him and Clowney or him and Quinn. Long is savvy, polished and a good athlete with a non-stop motor. And that's what makes him a very good pass rusher. But Quinn and Clowney are on another level in comparison to Long in terms of athleticism. On film, it's there.
As far Chris having a better career, I'm not seeing that either...even with the numbers you posted. He played an extra year and statistically was inferior in sacks, TFLs and FFs.
Combine measurables are combine measurables. On film, Clowney is a better athlete and it's not by a small margin. Long's combine measurables were better than Quinn's, I don't think any of us believe that Long is a better athlete than Quinn.
Should a sub 4 minute time in the mile impress me when the guy is only going to run a 100 yard dash? The "important" (I'm using quotation marks because I don't really think it's important) stat is the 10 yard split which says something about his quickness off the snap. Small area agility and quickness measured by the 3-cone time could also be reasonably argued to be important for a lineman. Another area where he didn't impress me at all. To me, the 40 yard time doesn't even show much athletic ability. It does point out his long legs and lean frame which are great attributes for long distance runners. I could say even more about this (and I will if asked) but I think you get where I'm coming from. I would be reasonably impressed if he was a TE.
Jared Cook: 6'5", 254 lbs, 40 yard dash time = 4.49. Pretty much the same size as Clowney but his 40 time impresses me. Different job description.
Measurables really aren't very important to begin with(agree with you on that) and yes, the 10 yard split is more important than the 40...and a 1.56 10 is extremely impressive for a DL.
But the contention that a 266 pound DE running a 4.53 40 doesn't show much athletic ability is a tad outrageous to me. You can certainly argue that it's not applicable to what he does but that's freakish athleticism no matter how you slice it.
As far as Cook goes, he's freakish athlete too...and I'm nitpicking but technically, his official 40 was a 4.50. That's a 0.03 second difference between a freakish 254 pound TE and a freakish 266 pound DE.
They're both freaks in their own right.
To answer your question, yes, a sub 4 minute mile would impress me no matter what the guy does.
I was simply going by athletic measurables...such as the ones they write down at the combine. Jedavion may well be the better all around athlete...and maybe even by a wide margin as some of you have stated, but those #s are what they are, and they are not debatable. I will not lie and say I have watched a ton of "tape" on him, unless you mean the few full game edited youtube vids of him over the last couple of seasons, but I have my doubts. Whether it be his motivation, motor, how he handles the VASTLY better OL technique in the NFL...well, like I said, I have my doubts. If he is wearing horns next season, then I hope all of the hype is UNDERSTATED!!