Dat Nguyen played linebacker seven years in the NFL. He was an assistant coach with the Cowboys for three more years. With a decade's worth of first-hand experience, he saw quite a bit.
And Nguyen's never seen anything like Texans' outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney.
"It's unbelievable," Nguyen said on Wednesday. "He flashes."
Nguyen is now on ESPN radio in San Antonio, co-hosting an afternoon show with Jason Minnix. That duo spent the first three days of the week on location in Houston at Texans training camp, and Nguyen likened Clowney to a former teammate in Dallas.
"He reminds me so much of when I was with the Cowboys, there was a young player, a rookie coming in named DeMarcus Ware," Nguyen said. "This guy's bigger, stronger, seems like faster, than DeMarcus Ware was when he came into the league. Pretty scary."
Ware tallied 11 sacks or more in every season from 2006-2012, and led the NFL in that stat in 2008 and 2010. A 4-time All Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, Ware's wreaked havoc on many a quarterback. Nguyen thinks pairing Clowney and defensive end J.J. Watt will help bolster the Houston secondary.
"That all ties together," Nguyen said. "Anytime you got pass rushers that can get to the quarterback, J.J. Watt and Jadeveon, those DBs are gonna have a chance to make a lot of plays, tipped balls or get a late break or an early break or jump on routes. They got a lot of chances to do a lot of good things."
The Texans have Thursday off, but will resume two-a-days on Friday with a morning practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
