Quote:
Originally Posted by Lzen
I don't have the time and didn't really pay that close attention in the game but, I would love to see a breakdown of how often he gets doubled. And even better, I would like to see how he does when singled compared to doubled. Does he suck when singled? Or just the times he's doubled. Obviously, this would have to be done by someone who understands how the plays are supposed to work.
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He does get doubled on occasion. But it's not as much as the other 'elite' ends get doubled because he has Jones right there alongside him also drawing attention (and he's not forcing the issue; he's not playing at an elite level).
He gets chipped (not a double) and there are times when the play design will leave a blocker without anyone in front of him so he'll find someone to hit. I noticed that a few times last Sunday; the G would be left without anyone to block so he'd go put a pop on Clark. That's not a designed double either. A twist where the T and G both lock on the same guy isn't a double; it's a mistake.
Teams are not making it truly easy on Clark, nor are they making it inordinately hard. He has plenty of opportunities to do damage out there and and when has them, he does little with them. And that's the big problem.
Nobody is expecting Clark to wreck guys on every play. But the "DPOY Candidate" he was held out to be does a LOT more with the opportunities he's had. And draws even more attention in the form of designed true double teams than he's gotten.
People are saying we should move Jones to DE to free him up some but if Clark would be a hell of a lot more dangerous than he's been, that would be HUGE for Jones. Because now he's getting more than just a simple chip and that helps out Jones inside. And on those plays where he's simply being addressed straight up by a T, maybe those become plays where he gets a chip instead and we see some benefit there as well.
Let's quantify it a bit. If your average NFL starter gets a '5' for attention on a 1-10 scale, I think it's fair to say that Ogbah's been getting about that; very little 'extra' attention paid to him but he's not exactly ignored. He's getting conventional attention. Okafor in the same range. Jones has been getting a 9. Clark's probably been getting a 7.
And what needs to happen is that he either A) Needs to be dangerous enough to draw that 9 himself or B) needs to do more with the 7 that he's presently getting.
Getting a little more attention than normal and in the process becoming essentially a non-factor for 80% of the game isn't an acceptable result for a guy with his contract who the Chiefs paid this much to get.