Coming out of the bye week, one of several changes that should take place on the defensive side of the ball for the Green Bay Packers is more snaps for Kenny Clark away from the defensive interior.
For a large portion of the season, Clark hasn’t been the same dominant force that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Admittedly, Clark recently told Tom Silverstein that is due to a lack of consistency. But in his role, which primarily has him lined up in the A and B-gaps, he faces a lot of double teams as well, especially in recent weeks.
Clark seeing double teams or lining up inside isn’t anything new. It wasn’t until the 2020 season that he saw more than 100 snaps lined up as a defensive end, according to PFF. That number then nearly doubled in 2021, with Clark seeing a career-high 236 snaps away from the interior. With this move, Clark saw more one-on-one opportunities last season, so it’s not a coincidence that he ended up having one of his most productive seasons in the NFL as a pass rusher. Clark recorded 68 pressures, one shy of his career-best, along with four sacks.
This season, Clark is on pace for roughly 170 snaps lined up outside –something that has to change. In large part, Clark has seen so many snaps inside over his career because he is simply the best at it on the team. However, as already alluded to, with that comes more double teams and combo blocks to fight through. Clark has remained disruptive because he is just that good, but there is the potential for him to wreak even more havoc with additional snaps away from the center, thus giving him more one-on-ones.
Without Rashan Gary, the Packers need a lot more juice from their pass rush, which has, not surprisingly, struggled to create pressure regularly since his season ended due to injury in Week 9. This has also created more attention on Clark without the offensive line having to worry about Gary. For a defense that under Joe Barry doesn’t utilize a lot of blitzes or twists, it’s incredibly important that the defensive front wins its one-on-one matchups.
With Clark outside, that would give TJ Slaton more opportunities at nose tackle. After all, that is his role on this team as a 6-5 and 340-pound space eater. And in situations where the Packers need added pass-rush ability from the interior, they could give Devonte Wyatt more than the current nine snaps per game he is averaging.
Clark is still going to have a role inside — it’s not as if I expect that to completely go away. And it’s not as if Slaton and Wyatt are going to provide the same disruptive presence in that role either — there will be give and take. But to maximize what Clark can bring to this defense and to provide the pass rush with a much-needed boost, he needs more snaps away from the interior.
