Everything you need to know about TT's Pick @ NO. 27 - DT Kenny Clark Fr. UCLA

[pbmax]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...t-card/page/28

Tanner not impressed.

Boy, it sure has been one whirlwind of an offseason for the Green Bay Packers, hasn’t it? They haven’t been this busy in years. They signed tight end Jared Cook in free agency! And...someone named Lerentee McCray at linebacker! And...they also re-signed James Starks, Nick Perry and Don Barclay to provide extra anxiety for Aaron Rodgers! Re-signings are transactions, too!

Phew. What tumult. Can you stand the excitement, Packers fans? General manager Ted Thompson may need to sleep this one off for the next three or four free-agency periods.

Thompson stayed awake long enough to dip into this year's deep defensive tackle class, which means it's time for another installment of Big Uglies: A 2016 Field Guide. Don’t try to tell one monstrous interior lineman from another without it!

Here's Kenny Clark's profile:

Size: 6'3", 314 pounds

Athleticism: Former high school wrestler

Honors: All-Pac-12

Numbers: 47 tackles and six sacks last year—a lot of production for a defensive tackle

Defining Special Trait: High football IQ; Clark wins by reading blocks and diagnosing plays

Potential Flaws: Lacks top-notch physical traits

Also Worth Mentioning: Clark plans to coach after his college career

Clark is a film junkie who anticipates the snap count, diagnoses blocking schemes and out-thinks his blockers. Those skills don’t translate as well to the NFL as you might expect: Pro blockers are less predictable and more likely to grind a lot of film themselves than guys in the Pac-12. Still, Clark should excel at the smaller tasks of defensive line play: sniffing out screens, cleaning up sacks after the quarterback is flushed from the pocket, and so on.

You can tell why the Packers like Clark: He's like a giant Ted Thompson. That said, there are many other defensive tackles on the board with higher upside than Clark.

Grade: C+

[esoxx]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...t-card/page/28

Tanner not impressed.

Boy, it sure has been one whirlwind of an offseason for the Green Bay Packers, hasn’t it? They haven’t been this busy in years. They signed tight end Jared Cook in free agency! And...someone named Lerentee McCray at linebacker! And...they also re-signed James Starks, Nick Perry and Don Barclay to provide extra anxiety for Aaron Rodgers! Re-signings are transactions, too!

Phew. What tumult. Can you stand the excitement, Packers fans? General manager Ted Thompson may need to sleep this one off for the next three or four free-agency periods.

Thompson stayed awake long enough to dip into this year's deep defensive tackle class, which means it's time for another installment of Big Uglies: A 2016 Field Guide. Don’t try to tell one monstrous interior lineman from another without it!

Here's Kenny Clark's profile:

Size: 6'3", 314 pounds

Athleticism: Former high school wrestler

Honors: All-Pac-12

Numbers: 47 tackles and six sacks last year—a lot of production for a defensive tackle

Defining Special Trait: High football IQ; Clark wins by reading blocks and diagnosing plays

Potential Flaws: Lacks top-notch physical traits

Also Worth Mentioning: Clark plans to coach after his college career

Clark is a film junkie who anticipates the snap count, diagnoses blocking schemes and out-thinks his blockers. Those skills don’t translate as well to the NFL as you might expect: Pro blockers are less predictable and more likely to grind a lot of film themselves than guys in the Pac-12. Still, Clark should excel at the smaller tasks of defensive line play: sniffing out screens, cleaning up sacks after the quarterback is flushed from the pocket, and so on.

You can tell why the Packers like Clark: He's like a giant Ted Thompson. That said, there are many other defensive tackles on the board with higher upside than Clark.

Grade: C+

You know who else was a big anticipate the snap count guy?

Jerel "I'm a big fat bust" Worthy.

Let's hope he's not that guy.

[woodbuck27]

Round 1, Pick 27 (27) Kenny Clark DT 6'3" 314 UCLA 5.9


Pick Analysis: "Clark got more active as his career went along at UCLA, and that allowed Myles Jack to make plays. Clark is an inside force against the pass. I like this pick for Green Bay because B.J. Raji is no longer there. We were thinking maybe inside linebacker here, but this pick works." -- Charles Davis

[Joemailman]

You know who else was a big anticipate the snap count guy?

Jerel "I'm a big fat bust" Worthy.

Let's hope he's not that guy.

CBS gives a somewhat different evaluation:

Scouts can check off a lot of boxes with Clark. He was a high school wrestling champ, and many of those maneuvers translate from the mat to the football field, playing with low hips, leverage and power.
He's a stout run defender who comes off the ball low and hard, consistently winning the leverage battle. Anchors well to double teams, planting his feet into the turf and locking out his arms. Clark flashes a quick burst but doesn't rely on it, exploding through the gap to wreak havoc at the line of scrimmage when opponents attempt to pull to block others.

Worthy was a one-trick pony who had nothing if he didn't beat the guy off the snap. Clark seems to have a more well-rounded game.

[Carolina_Packer]

CBS gives a somewhat different evaluation:



Worthy was a one-trick pony who had nothing if he didn't beat the guy off the snap. Clark seems to have a more well-rounded game.

The majority of players drafted by TT in rounds 1-4, and have not worked out are the result of injury. When a player gets hurt right away in his career rehabs his way back only to discover that he can't play at the NFL level always makes me wonder if he would have busted anyway, or if the injury sapped him of his ability to use the talent for which he was drafted.