The Atlanta Falcons are considered a serious contender at this point to trade up with the Houston Texans so they can select defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. The team met with Clowney on Friday afternoon, and they actually put the star through a “force plate” assessment which entailed Clowney standing on a plate which measures quite a bit about a player’s athletic attributes.
However, Albert Breer is reporting that the Falcons didn’t do this because they wanted to get a more scientific look at just how freakish of an athlete Clowney is. No, they did it because they wanted to learn more about potential injury concerns they have with the former South Carolina star.
This makes every bit of sense. While Clowney is young and seemingly in 100% shape right now, you don’t know how well that body can hold itself up over time, so the force plate assessment hopefully shed a little bit more light on that for the Falcons.