1. Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina, DE: Like just about everything else that Jadeveon Clowney does athletically, his workout numbers are jaw-dropping but nothing (not even this) illustrates just how freakish the South Carolina DE is better than the Tendo.
The what?
The Tendo is an electronic power and speed analyzer (a speedometer of sorts) invented in Slovakia and has been around for about a decade in the U.S. strength and conditioning community.
"It's become one of the go-to tests in the strength industry," said Bert Sorin, owner and VP of Sorinex Exercise Equipment, the sole North American distributor of the Tendo. "It's changed the way a lot of people are training. Now you have a quality approach instead of just reps. You can see what kind of force is produced."
According to Sorin, a former All-American hammer thrower at South Carolina in the late 1990s, about 90 percent of top 25 football programs use the Tendo in some variety.
"It measures velocity and power in meters per second," explained Joe Connolly, the Gamecocks head football strength and conditioning coach. "It'll give you a power number, and it's expressed in watts. It takes into account body weight and different things. (Clowney) is in the 8000s and we're talking repetitive numbers in the 8500-range, and there isn't anybody on the team within 2000 of that.
"Clowney has a 8655w peak power reading. The closest number that a teammate has is a 6800w peak power reading. This differential is pretty vast. One major difference is JD can produce this kind of power repeatedly. Nobody else can do that."
Connolly's example: "Clowney first jump: 8655w. Jump two: 8653w. Jump three: 8650w. The rest of the word: Jump one: 6600w. Jump two: 6300w. Jump three: 6000w."
When Clowney arrived in Columbia two years ago as the nation's No. 1 recruit, he was a chiseled 6-foot-6, 238 pounder with explosiveness that had college recruiters raving. He was also "a recipe for disaster," said Connolly. "When he walked in the door he was a Ferrari engine in a Yugo. He was extremely explosive but he needed to stabilize a lot of his joints to help keep him injury free."
Since then Clowney has blossomed into a 275-pound guy who has many seeing him as the first pick in next year's NFL Draft and a viable Heisman Trophy candidate. "His first step was lightning, and that's just who is he and what God gave him," said Connolly. "The difference with him is that he's faster at 275 now. He's even more explosive and powerful at 275, which is frightening."
Clowney was tested by Gamecock coaches the week before South Carolina started spring ball. He vertical jumped 38 inches and clocked a 4.54 40 weighing 274 pounds. A year ago, he ran a 4.58 at 257.
A year ago, Clowney's teammate, Devin Taylor made the Freaks List. A former state triple jump champ, Taylor was a 6-7, 267-pounder who broad-jumped almost 11 feet.
"Devin was fluid and extremely smooth. Clowney is violent," said Connolly. "Devin will play in the NFL for a long time. Clowney is more violent than anybody I've ever seen. There is a violence to his first step. I've never seen anybody with more first-step quickness than he has. He's off the ball while the ball is still in the center's hands. His explosiveness is unparalleled."
Asked if it's realistic to think Clowney could show up next winter in Indy for the NFL Combine and vertical jump 40 inches while weighing 290, Connolly said, "There's no question that is within the realm of possibility.
"The difference is he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. He's always been an average worker. But when you see, 'The draft before my draft is now done,' he's kind of flipped the switch. There's no question he's been very upfront and forward about the different things he wants to accomplish this year, and he realizes that strength and conditioning is a very important factor to getting to those goals."
