We tend to toss generational talent around a lot but in reality as a USC fan I think the only players that was generational talents were Marcus Lattimore, Alshon, Clowney, and probably Melvin Ingram. I only named players from 2010 and up. That’s about it though
Generational Talent
- Thread starter Maccmaine12
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Prior to 2010, I know, but George Rogers and Sterling Sharpe say hi.
Once described as "DB-U".
Seems some elite in those groups & sometimes they show out more at the next level (Pro Bowl).
Seems some elite in those groups & sometimes they show out more at the next level (Pro Bowl).
Prior to 2010. Sterling and George definitely. Even Rice imo. But the players I named was after 2010.
Clowneywas a def… and imagine if he really gave a crap about football. He was never 100 pct bought in and still dominated when he chose to. I wouldn’t put latt in there, so good but he could have done so much more. Never reached his potential because of the acl’s.
That's only one generation; they should be compared with more than one generation to be dubbed "generational talent."
Talent and performance are two different things. Clowney was definitely a generational type talent. Possibly, Big George and Sterling, although there are people in college football every year who look kind of like them. I don't ever recall seeing a true freshman who looked physically ready to play in the NFL and Clowney was that.
If you can read this, I correctly identified the motorcycles.
If you can read this, I correctly identified the motorcycles.
Mike Davis was faster but he wasn’t better than Marcus at finding holes or breaking tackles.
Clowney was a generational physical talent but he wasn't a generational game changing talent. He took too many plays off and was looking forward to the NFL after his sophomore season. I remember talk of him sitting out his junior season to get ready for the draft and not risk injury. Clowney's final season resulted in the worst stats of his college career. Lattimore would have been a generational talent, he would have rewritten the record books if he had been able to stay healthy.
I agree that "generational" gets thrown around too much.
I agree that "generational" gets thrown around too much.
I’m sorry I have to disagree with you. He was so great that he had to be double and tripled the entire game. He always created 1on1s for his fellow teammates on the DL. But i know ppl don’t look at double teams but since he didn’t change games go look at what type of impact he had on that 2012 SC vs UGA game and the Clemson game where he had so many sacks that we lost count.
Like I said; he was an incredible physical talent, as good as anyone who has ever played. The thing that keeps me from thinking of him as "generational" was his attitude, work ethic, whatever you want to call it. He had a great game in 2012 against UGA but in 2013 he was a complete non factor. After the game, he suddenly had a "foot injury" that was never mentioned before the game. He had some games where he was unblockable but he also had games where he was just on the field. The fact he entertained sitting his junior year says to me that he wasn't fully committed that season. His junior year stats tend to support my position.
I agree he had generational talent but I don't think he was a generational player.
I think it was Stephon Gilmore who got the ball rolling for Spurrier. Maybe not a generational player, but his body of work speaks for itself.
Clowney was the best athlete on the field every time he stepped on it his sophomore and junior years. Between him and Swearinger, they took away half the field. You couldn't run the read run option on him because he would blow up the QB or the RB. Opposing offenses spent most of the day running away from him. Even so, he often made a trailing tackle on the other side. He would have even been a standout at OT, TE or even RB.
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To be fair, I don't think any of the "sitting out" talk originated with him. NFL pundits speculated as to whether he should sit out, but I don't know that Clowney ever did. It's a bit fuzzy, and I know I'd never find it now, but I believe Clowney was asked about it and he said it never entered his mind.
HIs final year stats were underwhelming, mostly because all the pre-season talk was about him breaking the sacks record. There was so much hype for his final year...the hype was off the charts b/c of "the hit"...I think teams schemed specifically not to get beat by Clowney. As noted above, double-teams were the norm for him that last year. For one-on-one matchups, he was nearly unstoppable.
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Just a probably naive statement but I’ve watched the Gamecocks a while. Clowned was about as fierce a looking and actually playing player I have ever seen. I remember over at UGA they had a big cutout of him and were obsessing (rightfully so) on how to stop him. One observation I have always had was when we changed out defensive line coaches-Brad Lawing for Deke what’s his name who came from UNC I think. He spoke about focusing on the blitz and did. In addition to some things going on with Clowney I noticed times when he was blitzed inside or outside and teams were able to run right by him because he seemed to take himself out of the play. In my opinion Clowney’s strength was to be able to play off the block, read the play, tops the blocker aside, and blow it up. I thought this change made him much less effective. Probably just my own imagination but I thought Deke diminished Jadeveon’s effectiveness.