Jimmy Clausen works out for Lions but could be done as NFL QB
By Greg Hadley
Jimmy Clausen, the former Notre Dame quarterback, is trying to find an NFL squad to take him for 2016, but the 28-year-old is close to being bounced from the league.
Remember Jimmy Clausen? Golden boy, superstar, future No. 1 pick Jimmy Clausen? The guy who got sucker-punched after losing to UConn? You know, that Jimmy Clausen.
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Of course you do. Clausen’s time with the Irish coincided with the end of Charlies Weis’s reign of terror in South Bend, and while he left Notre Dame as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in recent memory, he’s mostly remembered (or forgotten, depending on how you look at it), for his 16-18 record as a starter and his reputation for being immature and hot-headed.
Oh, and his painful fall out of the first round in the 2010 NFL Draft.
That was a long time ago though, and Clausen has struggled in the years since, so much so that he’s on his last legs when it comes to professional football.
Free agent QB Jimmy Clausen, who recently worked out for the #Redskins, is heading to Detroit to work out for the #Lions Monday, source said
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 24, 2016
The NFL has certainly not been kind to Clausen and seems to have never forgiven him for his terrible rookie season with the Carolina Panthers. In the five seasons since, he’s started four games and didn’t even get on the field from 2011 to 2013.
Unfortunately for the California native, the news didn’t get much better Monday.
Write Lions worked out a TE and two WRs in addition to Jimmy Clausen today. No immediate signings.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) July 25, 2016
No immediate signings. And the Lions used a draft pick on Jake Ruddock this past season, have Dan Orlovsky as their veteran backup and some guy named Matthew Stafford under center. So that seems like a dead end.
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The other team Clausen worked out for, the Washington Redskins, is pretty much in the exact same situation, with an established starter (Kirk Cousins), a solid backup (Colt McCoy) and a rookie third-stringer (Nate Sudfeld).
At this point, it seems like teams that work out Clausen are simply going through the motions and doing their due diligence. But there’s nothing to suggest someone will actually sign him. Clausen had a chance to resurrect his career with three starts last season and threw four picks with a QBR of 28.64.
If Clausen fails to make an NFL squad (and I’d be willing to wager serious money on it), Notre Dame will be without a former starting QB in the league for the first time this century. It’ll be the end of an era for Fighting Irish football.
Still, some people are holding out hope for Clausen. Or something like that.