Beware, interior offensive linemen on the Green Bay Packers’ schedule.
Even after finishing second among NFL interior defensive linemen in total quarterback pressures last season, Kenny Clark’s position coach believes he’s actually improved as a pass-rusher entering 2020.
Clark produced a career-high 62 total pressures last season. It’s possible he could create even more in 2020.
“He’s dialed in. He had a great offseason. He found a way to take care of his body, get bigger, get faster, get stronger. And he’s also become better as a rusher,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said, via Mike Spofford of Packers.com.
The Packers gave Clark a $70 million extension in August, tying him to Green Bay through the 2024 season. His rare ability to affect the passing game as an interior defender was a big reason why the Packers signed off on the lucrative deal.
Despite playing on the inside of Mike Pettine’s defense and weighing well over 300 pounds, Clark has improved his number of total pressures each of the last three seasons, going from nine as a rookie to 31 in 2017, from 31 to 46 in 2018, and from 46 to 62 in 2019. He was one of just three interior defenders to post 60 or more pressures last season, joining All-Pros Aaron Donald and Cameron Hayward.
Donald, the gold standard of interior pass-rushers, created 80 pressures. Can Clark create at least one pressure or more per game and threaten to join Donald among the NFL’s elite?
The Packers play Clark all over the defensive front and are planning to find new ways of opening up one-on-one rushing opportunities in 2020, so more pressures are possible, especially if he can avoid some of the lingering injuries that bothered him mid-season in 2019.
Quick and powerful, Clark often creates an impossible job for a single interior lineman. He can burst around blockers in short areas but also overpower weaker guards and centers with pure strength. Montgomery’s comments suggest Clark could be even quicker and more powerful in 2020.
Clark’s job as a rusher is often made easier by the constant presence of productive outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, and second-year rusher Rashan Gary might be on the verge of a breakout season. Together, the four could be a wrecking ball for offensive lines to deal with.
Clark, who doesn’t turn 25 until October, keeps getting better and better.
“The guy gets stronger as the season goes. I mean, it’s amazing,” Montgomery said.
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