Jadeveon Clowney is healthy, which makes this an important season

Jadeveon Clowney was more than a one-hit wonder.

NFL teams aren't dopey enough to draft a player No. 1 based on one big hit against a Michigan running back. Maybe that's how you came to know Clowney, but long before that play NFL scouts saw the size, the explosiveness and playmaking ability from the South Carolina defensive end. It surprised very few people when Clowney was the top pick of the 2014 draft, to the Houston Texans. He was a fantastic prospect.

How time flies.

Clowney wouldn't even be the first pass rusher taken if we re-selected the 2014 NFL draft (hello, Khalil Mack) and we have little idea if Clowney can be an above-average pro player. In two injury-filled seasons, Clowney has 4.5 sacks. Mack had five sacks in one game against the Denver Broncos last season.

That's why Clowney's message on Monday was important. He said he feels 100 percent physically, which might be a first for him in the NFL since the opening moments of his career. Clowney hurt his knee in the second quarter of his NFL debut, and eventually had microfracture surgery after the season. Late last season he said he had a Lisfranc foot injury, but didn't need surgery according to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com.

Now that Clowney is healthy, we should be able to get a clearer picture of what kind of NFL player he will be.

it's not fair to call this a make-or-break season for Clowney. He turned 23 years old earlier this year, and even if he doesn't produce much this season, it's not like he won't get many more opportunities to prove himself. Maybe it all comes together for him in year four, five or six, if it doesn't happen this season. But make no mistake, this is an important season.

The Texans will have to decide on Clowney's expensive fifth-year option next offseason, and we don't know yet if Clowney is worth it. He hasn't been a great pass rusher in the NFL, though he did have some nice moments against the run last year and a few sacks that show his potential in that area. But it's unfair to judge him off his rookie season, given the knee injury, and tough to draw any conclusions from a second season in which he was coming back from surgery and hurt his foot too. After two years, we know practically nothing about Clowney as an NFL player, except that he's had trouble staying healthy.

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Clowney said after last season he planned to dominate in 2016. The ability is there for him to do that, and it would be a boon to a Texans team that won the AFC South last season and had a very good offseason. Clowney being healthy for a majority of the offseason is a huge plus for him as he tries to establish himself in the Texans' long-term plans.

This isn't a do-or-die season for Clowney. But if he wants to show he can be the player the Texans thought he was coming out of college, this wouldn't be a bad time for him to show it.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab