Life Without Clowney......

[JoeMorrisonLives]

Originally Posted by Gamecocks1137

Get ready to see a D line who will rape when it comes to sacks. No MORE double teams for this line. We are going to show out. We play better when not everyone is blocking our best player.

Based on the virtue of one guy alone being gone, I don't think we'll be better, based upon what we have on our staff and roster, I think we'll have great team stats. I think we'll also play people in and out more. I think English is gonna be elite when he puts on some more weight.

[spurrierismyhomeboy]

We will miss Clowney ALOT next year. Anybody who thinks our D-Line will be better without Clowney is kidding themselves. Clowney is the best player by position we will see in a Carolina uniform in our lifetimes. Andy Staples of Sport Illustrated compared him to Reggie White for goodness sakes.

[uscsandstorm85]

The defensive line will work well as a TEAM this year.

[GarnetSwarm1990]

I think Thomas will come in and be a stud (assuming his grades are good enough). He was 4th in NJCAA last year with 12.5 sacks in 12 games. He's 6'6 and I've seen some stuff saying he's 275. That's Clowney body size right there.

I think Lamin will also come in and replace Quarles well. Our DT's as a group are going to be scary to play against.

English will add weight and get to at least 245 maybe even 250. He'll be able to take on tackles this year and fight off blocks.

I'm excited to see who steps up.

[sc455]

Originally Posted by GarnetSwarm1990

I think Thomas will come in and be a stud (assuming his grades are good enough). He was 4th in NJCAA last year with 12.5 sacks in 12 games. He's 6'6 and I've seen some stuff saying he's 275. That's Clowney body size right there.

I think Lamin will also come in and replace Quarles well. Our DT's as a group are going to be scary to play against.

English will add weight and get to at least 245 maybe even 250. He'll be able to take on tackles this year and fight off blocks.

I'm excited to see who steps up.

i understand the point u makevwith thomas, but its not a very good comparison. clowney was gameplanned around. his presence
Freed up others to make plays.

clowney was a gamechanger. nobody will replace him and pointing out someones realativaty equal body size doesnt matter..

[yazoo]

Clowney was a disruptive force that made other teams gameplan around him. Teams took guys away from schemes to account for him. That created opportunities for other players (Quarles) to make plays against one on one blocking.

We lose that advantage.

OTH, Clowney liked to freelance out there. Eventually, our coaches just gave him carte blanche. Sometimes, this put our defense out of position and it was somewhat unpredictable.

The coaches will compensate for losing Clowney somewhat because now they can implement defensive schemes knowing the new lineman will follow instructions and remain in position. Gap control. Hopefully, this will help us a bit with the sting our DL will feel losing the most dominate player in college football for the past two years.

Finally, the other thing we lose are the huge plays Clowney periodically would make. Not sure we make that up unless someone (or several someones) get really serious in the weight room and/or Connolly's off season conditioning.

[CockyInGA]

Teams had to adjust their entire offensive playbook when they played us to compensate for Clowney. To me, that's the ultimate form of flattery.

Now, they have to adjust again, now that we don't have him. Only now, they really don't know know who or what to plan for.

I predict a more cohesive unit that's going to be more Deke's line, and I'm really excited to see how that goes.

[Flameout12]

I'll miss him....loved watching him make plays, and not just 2013.

He beasted it that last quarter in Orlando and that's something I hope no one every forgets. He could have taken it easy, but instead wanted to play hard and win the friggin' game! And he doesn't regret being a Gamecock one bit and really likes Steve Spurrier.

He went out on top and helped lead his team to #4 in the nation. I'll never forget that.

Thanks Jadeveon for all you did.

[FilchCock]

I'm interested in seeing what David Johnson has grown into over the redshirt year. He could be a versatile load to handle who might mitigate Clowney's loss.

[RoosterBooster]

Originally Posted by FilchCock

Alright y'all, this new influx of talent has really brought home for me the reality that Clowney is no longer with us.

It's a devastating feeling that, frankly, has left me reeling.

I'm sure the feeling has been brought on for a number of reasons, but I think the most significant is that, without him, I don't know who will provide what I can only describe as the BADASS FACTOR.

With Jadeveon we knew that no matter what, we had the biggest, baddest man on the block. Regardless of what another team threw at us we knew that our Monster was better than their Monster, and I think that gave us a lot of confidence. It gave us some serious BADASS FACTOR.

With him gone, though, who will restore our badassitude? Who among us remains to strike mortal fear into our enemies, to provide our team with a rallying point, and our fans with a hero.

Basically, who is next in line to be that implacable, physical freak for us?

Help me Obi-wan Kenobi.....who's our New Hope?

First of all, don't forget the credit Kelcey deserves for our defense the last few years. Second, I think DJ proved you don't need to be that big to be bad. Heck, Vic Hampton may have a little to say about that after the hit v 2.0 in the Cap One Bowl. Don't forget the guys that built the rep of that D Line. Travian, Melvin, Cliff, Clifton, Devon, Byron, Norwood, and Jasper was a pretty bad man at LB as well. It did not start with Clowney and it will not end with Clowney. Remember we have some really solid talent at LB. Skai was awesome at the end of the year, and Lewis and Bryant show tons of potential as well. The Dixon's were solid, Surratt did a great job stepping into some big shoes. Now it is time for English, Dukes, Green, Johnson and Griffin to shine. And the best news, the athletic studs we have coming in with this Freshman class, they won't have to start, but a few of them will probably break the 2 deep and be those situation guys like Clowney, Quarles, and Sutton were when they got here.

[The Yancey]

Clowney cannot be replaced. Athletes like him come across only once per decade. I'm just thankful that he decided to be a Gamecock. I'll be looking forward to his disrupting opposing backfields on Sundays in the future.

While we can't replace him we can and will scheme around who we have. We will play to our strengths. Football is a team sport and we have a solid team for 2014. We will be fine, different but fine.

[gamecock88]

DL will start off like last year's LB corps did. That will be a weakness because at times without Clowney in there, QBs had all day. The loss of KQ added to JC will be much more than we'd like to admit right now. Regardless of the bodies we have to fill the void, there aren't any of those type guys on this team right now. Maybe by the summer/fall.

[GarnetSwarm1990]

Originally Posted by sc455

i understand the point u makevwith thomas, but its not a very good comparison. clowney was gameplanned around. his presence
Freed up others to make plays.

clowney was a gamechanger. nobody will replace him and pointing out someones realativaty equal body size doesnt matter..

My point about body size was mainly toward the question of a big body guy to get off the bus and intimidate opposing teams and fans.

[GamecockUltimate]

Originally Posted by garnetmike

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he is and always will be a gamecock...but the way this thread sounds...it is as if he actually had a great season. Jd was barely a force perhaps 30% of the time this past season. I know the argument that teams had to account for him...yada yada...but the truth is, I don't think we will miss a beat without him. Love him...but time to move on and I missed Norwood and swearinger far more than I will miss Clowney.

I'll enjoy watching him at the next level...but what's ithe shades of gray sentiment from this thread?

i disagree with this, he made as many plays this year as last, and offense schemed against him, freeing others up. we might not miss a beat but he is a huge loss

[BloodySpur]

We'll be fine... gone are the days of drop off years. We are just reloading these days!

[crowcutta]

it would be awesome if we find 2 or more really good pass rushers, but as of now ward and the defensive staff are likely going to have to send more pressures. we lose the exterior disruption and attention that clowney received, but we also lose the interior disruption that quarles caused. replacing that kind of disruption and production wont be easy.
what ive always liked about ward is hes made good adjustments.

[usc52]

Originally Posted by garnetmike

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he is and always will be a gamecock...but the way this thread sounds...it is as if he actually had a great season. Jd was barely a force perhaps 30% of the time this past season. I know the argument that teams had to account for him...yada yada...but the truth is, I don't think we will miss a beat without him. Love him...but time to move on and I missed Norwood and swearinger far more than I will miss Clowney.

I'll enjoy watching him at the next level...but what's ithe shades of gray sentiment from this thread?

Says the guy who bashed Clowney all year..

[ReadR00ster]

Well, be able to get pressure. We have some strong dudes up front that will be able to push that pocket right in the QB's face. Most of the dudes we are going to be using are Juniors and seniors. They know that our defensive line is our pride and they'll be up to the challenge.

[Spurrier_Superior_One]

Originally Posted by Gamecock_Aholic

I'm gonna miss Clowney. He was awesome publicity. "The Hit" was probably one of the best things to ever happen to USC as far as publicity.

The hype and publicity helped lead to the three circus that happened this season. Is he going to play, he is gased, what injury this week, what excuse this week, the list goes on and on what the media tried to make a headline on Clowney.

[InletCock1989]

Now other players will get the spotlight!