Green Bay Packers rookie report following first quarter of 2016 season
By Kenn Korb
Kenny Clark
Clark has been a piece of the puzzle in helping the Packers become the best team in the league at defending the run so far this year.
Injuries striking down guys around him like Letroy Guion have helped elevate him to the field more often than might have been initially expected (80 snaps between Weeks 2 & 3; sits behind only Mike Daniels in snaps for Green Bay’s defensive linemen on the season), and even with Guion back healthy, Clark is set as a starter on the line for run plays. He also has seen time with the special teams unit (27.03% of those snaps).
He hasn’t done much that shows up on the stat sheet (in four games: 8 tackles, 1 Pass Defensed), but he did recover a fumble last week, and most of his impact has been found through eating up blocks in the run game for the cavalcade of linebackers lining up behind him. Pro Football Focus rates him as just below average so far — his pass rushing specifically needs work — but he should get better as he continues to acclimate to the professional game.