How does the Seahawks acquisition of Jadeveon Clowney impact the 49ers?

The balance in power in the NFC west took a bit of a shift when the Seattle Seahawks acquired Jadeveon Clowney from the Houston Texans. How does this acquisition impact the San Francisco 49ers?

In an offseason full of player holdouts, the first domino to fall was Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Houston has sent the former 2014 first overall pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick, DE/OLB Barkevious Mingo and LB Jacob Martin. Seattle hardly had to give up anything to acquire Clowney.

They pretty much just sent the Texans a third round pick and a bag of chips. But that’s mainly due to the fact that Clowney is not allowed to be extended until after the 2019 season. The Seahawks are risking a bit because he could just walk away for nothing in the end. Regardless, the Seahawks acquired a stellar talent in Clowney.

He’s not among the top tier of pass rushers like Khalil Mack or Aaron Donald, but his impact will be felt immediately on that defense come this Sunday. So how does the Seattle Seahawks acquisition of Jadeveon Clowney impact the San Francisco 49ers this season? 

It just adds more weight to the plate for Kyle Shanahan when it comes to game planning for the Seahawks defense. It didn’t seem too bad all Summer since the Seahawks dealt away Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s why Seattle signed Ziggy Ansah to help lessen the blow of the loss of Clark. With Clowney, the Seahawks are essentially back in business with their pass rush.

That defense was always going to be good, but with Clowney they’re getting not just a great pass rusher but a stout run defender. Pulling a win against the Seahawks is going to be increasingly difficult now in a division with tight competition. Clowney’s addition to the Seahawks doesn’t just impact the 49ers when they play each other.

Seattle now has an edge rusher they can rely on for clutch stops.He may end up making plays that clinches a couple of wins for them. That can be the difference between a wild card spot and being eliminated for the San Francisco 49ers. One things for sure, they have to at least take care of business at home when they play the Seahawks.

Tallying division wins is going to be huge for any team trying to emerge as the wild card. The only bright side to this for the 49ers is that Clowney isn’t a lock to be with them long-term. Unfortunately for this season, the acquisition of Jadeveon Clowney for the Seahawks will have a dent like impact for the 49er.