The Detroit Lions announced Wednesday they hosted South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney for an official visit at the team's facilities, perhaps an indication the club's interest in trading up is indeed real.
The Lions hosted Clowney along with Pittsburgh State receiver John Brown.
Widely regarded as one of the most talented prospects of this year's class, Clowney is a legitimate to go No. 1 overall to the Houston Texans. That means if the Lions want a realistic shot at landing him, they will have to pull off a trade to move up from No. 10 in order to get into a position to select him.
Clowney (6-5, 266 pounds) ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine back in February, but is coming off somewhat of a down season in which he generated just three sacks, leading to questions from personnel evaluators about his work ethic and commitment to the game.
As a sophomore, Clowney racked up 13 sacks and 23.5 tackles for lost yardage, both South Carolina records.
If somehow the Lions were able to draft Clowney, he'd be on a defensive line that already features defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley along with defensive end Ezekiel Ansah.