Former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney wanted to enter the draft in 2013. Now that he’s eligible, he wants one specific team to draft him.
“I wish [the Falcons] could trade up for me,” Clowney told Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Clowney prefers a trade up, because he doesn’t want to be passed over five times.
“I hope I don’t fall to No. 6. I like Atlanta -- a lot,” Clowney said. “They’re pretty good. They’ve got some guys from South Carolina on the team, also. And it’s close to home.”
Four of the top five teams in the draft (Texans, Jaguars, Browns, Raiders) desperately need quarterbacks. The other one (the Rams) doesn’t need another pass rusher.
During a Friday interview with Pro Football Talk on NBCSN, Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff made it clear that the team that traded up to No. 6 three years ago to get Julio Jones could move up from No. 6 this year.
While it could make sense for the Texans to make that move in order to stockpile some picks, dropping behind the Jaguars, Browns, and Raiders could make it hard to get the quarterback the Texans would take at No. 1. A move to No. 2 is more likely, given that Rams G.M. Les Snead and Dimitroff have a strong working relationship.
For both teams, the precedent set two years ago when the Redskins moved from No. 6 to No. 2 in a trade with the Rams could be a problem. In 2012, St. Louis wrangled the sixth overall selection, two first-round picks (including the pick that became No. 2 in 2014), and a second-rounder.
While some would say that Washington was justified in giving up that much because Robert Griffin III is a very special player, the same could be said of Clowney. Several months ago, one veteran scout with a team not picking in the top 10 remarked that Clowney is the best prospect he’s ever seen.