Texans owner Bob McNair May Have Spilled The Beans About #1 Overall Pick

The Super Bowl isn’t even over, and already the draft is heavy on a lot of people’s minds.  One of those minds is the owner of the Houston Texans, Bob McNair.

Jan 1, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (7) runs off the field after the second quarter of the Capital One Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers held at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

McNair recently was caught on film answering a question from a member of media about South Carolina’s Jadaveon Clowney.  His answer surprised a lot of people because it was well thought out.  So well thought out, in fact, that he’s already had conversations with other players on the Texans roster about what would happen if the team drafted him.

Here’s what McNair had to say about Clowney:

"“He’s one of these players who’s a once in every ten years kind of physical specimen that comes along.  Mario Williams was that way.  I think that Clowney is actually a better athlete than Mario, so that tells you what kind of player he can be.  Like many of these fellas who have these great physical attributes, they didn’t have to work as hard in junior high school and high school and college to be a superlative athlete because they had this natural ability.  You know, he’s not a J.J. Watt.  J.J. didn’t have that natural ability.  He worked.  He developed his.  And one of the things I said to J.J., I don’t know what will happen, but if we get Clowney, we want you to instill in him the same kind of work habits that you have.  And he said ‘Well, if he’s in the same room with me,’ he said ‘He’ll have ’em.'”"

Dec 22, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) celebrates a sack against the Denver Broncos during the second half at Reliant Stadium. The Broncos won 37-13. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

At first, I was thinking this was a bit of positioning talk to try to get a team that wanted Clowney to trade up to get him.  Then, after thinking about it for a little bit, changed my mind.  If he’s seriously had a conversation about Clowney with superstar J.J. Watt, then you have to take it seriously.

If the Texans do choose to pull the trigger on Clowney, you can expect a lot of trade activity for teams interested in players like Anthony Barr, Kony Ealy, and of course, the top quarterbacks of the draft.

We won’t find out for sure until draft day, but for now, it sure is fun to speculate.