The Dallas Cowboys pass rush was so bad that they reportedly signed free agent former No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney while they were barely beating the New York Giants on Sunday.
Clowney is a beast on the edge and should be able to help one of the weaker areas of the defense.
There are some questions though.
How soon will he play, how many plays will he be in against Chicago, and how effective will he be? Can he impart some veteran savvy onto the younger defensive ends?
Is He In Shape?
Clowney did not attend any training camp this year for any NFL team. At 32 years old, he turns 33 in February, he will be playing in his 12th NFL season.
Missing camp is something he should easily be able to overcome.
If, and this is the question, if he has stayed in shape since he last walked off an NFL field back in January while playing for Carolina.
In all likelihood he has. It will then just be a question of how familiar he is when the Cowboys’ defensive scheme.
He’ll probably come in off the bench this Sunday for around 10-15 plays.
Depending on how that goes, he could be starting as soon as the Green Bay game.
Which Clowney Will Dallas Get?
Clowney has only played in every game of a season just twice. In 2023, for the Ravens, he started in 15 of the 17 games that he played for Baltimore.
Before that, in 2017 for Houston, he started and played in all 16 games of the Texans’ schedule.
Clowney’s best years for sacks came in 2017 and 2023, when he had 9.5 sacks. He’s had nine sacks in 2018 for Houston and 2021 for Cleveland.
His next highest total was six in 2016 for the Texans.
His career high for tackles was 59, also in 2017 in Houston.
Last year, playing for the Panthers, Clowney played in 14 games. He had 46 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
But in four of his 11 seasons, he has registered three sacks or less.
He did not have a sack in his rookie year of 2014 nor did he have one in 2020 while playing in Tennessee.
Who Will Be The Edge Starters?
For the first two games of the 2025 season, Dante Fowler and Sam Williams have started at defensive end. They’ve been spelled by Marshawn Kneeland, James Houston, and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku.
The five players combined have 16 tackles, 2 sacks, and eight quarterback hits.
Thus the need to bring in Clowney to replace the production lost in the Micah Parsons trade.
If Clowney is in full form, he should be a starter. Williams should be starting on the opposite side as he has the best overall stats of the others so far.
But Kneeland and Houston aren’t that far behind so Williams shouldn’t get too comfortable in the starting role.
a Dallas Cowboys since the 70’s both OLB’s Jadeveon Clowney and Dante Fowler won’t make the Cowboys defense any better this is Jerry Jones trying to correct a mistake by letting Micah Parsons go now Jerry Jones is collecting garbage
I wouldn’t call the trade a total mistake, Ken Clark has been a bulwark in plugging a huge weakness in the defensive interior. Agree, Parsons cannot be replaced. Clowney is a top athlete, but he is in the downside of his 11 year career, and will never replace Parsons dynamic pass rush. Hopefully, Ezieraku learns the ropes quickly, and that Williams and Fowler will get off the snide and start producing too.
Nice vet addition to a young DE group. Slippery guy with long arms and a nice cache of moves. Can get skinny inside and bend outside. Plus, can translate speed to power. Saw his presser, seems to still have passion and competitive fire. I like when he said the players here are “spoiled”. Maybe him and no-nonsense Clark can change that mentality/culture a little.
Will find out what kind of Clowney shows up – either a crasher or a 32 year old washed up veteran.
That’s a mighty big “if”. If he’s not in shape, it will be a waste. There seems to be no evidence either way, atleast in this article. A little research is in order.
The play count snaps for each DE is telling. Fowler, the experienced vet and Sam Williams the guy the FO wants to be their #1. Yet there are talented guys behind them. Who ultimately becomes #1 & 2 is telling and what role does Clowney play in that rotation.