Cameron Clark is one of the most important Jets of 2021 (Film)

[Bronx]

9 minutes ago, TeddEY said:

Ummm...

Good catch! Lol

[jetsons]

7 hours ago, Shockwave said:

Love Nania. Best Jets content on the web. 

I never heard of the site... I may have to take a ganders, thx. ?

[flgreen]

From Connor Hughes:

"

What’s the deal with Cam Clark? @LikeImages

There’s so much intrigue around the second-year offensive lineman. Clark needed some time to develop when the Jets drafted him out of Charlotte, so it certainly didn’t help when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of last year’s rookie minicamps, OTAs and veteran minicamp. He had a very slow start to training camp, then got hurt. He improved throughout the regular season once healthy, working mostly on scout team, but not to the point the Jets considered giving him late-week reps.

At this point, Clark isn’t considered a legitimate starting option. He’ll be given a chance, but based on last season, he has a ways to go. He’ll need a big offseason to beat out Greg Van Roten and Alex Lewis. The Jets do like his potential.

[jetstream23]

51 minutes ago, slats said:

Feeney’s my personal favorite to win the RG job, especially if there was input from the new coaching staff that led to him being brought aboard in the first place. Cam Clark beating him out, I think, would be huge. Definitely want to see last year’s third and fourth rounders in expanded roles this season. 

That last part is pretty important, especially with a full offseason program now.  Davis, Zuniga, Morgan, Clark, and Perine are all guys who you'd hope and expect to show something this year.  I give that entire group a little bit of a mulligan because of multiple reasons... being rookies, Gase not giving young guys playing time, the lack of a true offseason, some injuries amongst them, etc.  At the same time, Becton and Mims (when not hurt) found their way to varying degrees of legitimate success as rookies.

I don't expect all 5 of those guys to pan out, it's just unrealistic.  But the expectation should probably be that at least 3 of the 5 group into significant contributors, either starters (maybe Davis and Clark?), rotational guys getting 40-50% of the snaps (Zuniga?) and a decent backup QB in Morgan.  Maybe Perine's upside is a RB2 but he becomes more of a RB3?  I have no idea but I do know we need to see more than we saw last year.  If we got two legit starters from that group of 5 I'd be pretty happy actually.

[CTJetsFan]

25 minutes ago, flgreen said:

From Connor Hughes:

"

What’s the deal with Cam Clark? @LikeImages

There’s so much intrigue around the second-year offensive lineman. Clark needed some time to develop when the Jets drafted him out of Charlotte, so it certainly didn’t help when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of last year’s rookie minicamps, OTAs and veteran minicamp. He had a very slow start to training camp, then got hurt. He improved throughout the regular season once healthy, working mostly on scout team, but not to the point the Jets considered giving him late-week reps.

At this point, Clark isn’t considered a legitimate starting option. He’ll be given a chance, but based on last season, he has a ways to go. He’ll need a big offseason to beat out Greg Van Roten and Alex Lewis. The Jets do like his potential.

Didn't Alex Lewis have some mental health issue at the end of last season that ended his season early (not unlike most of us here after watching this team lol)?

[Jetsfan80]

6 hours ago, varjet said:

There is really no logical explanation for the Jets last off season than to believe that JD thinks Clark can be a contributor in 2021.  

Otherwise JD should have been looking for more Gs in the draft-trading up into rd 3, or not drafting slow safeties.  

Hopefully its an instance of Douglas really being right that the kid has something (even if he's just a solid depth option who can play both G or T), rather than a situation where Douglas is honoring a sunken cost. 

I have to think its the former, since JD doesn't strike me as a sunken cost guy.  Otherwise he might have paid Jamal Adams, Leonard Williams and kept Sam Darnold, among other bad kinds of roster decisions that we've gotten used to over the years.

[Jetsfan80]

6 hours ago, JiFapono said:

Seems like a huge leap but it's that time of the year.

I'm not so sure it is a huge leap.  He's not saying Clark is going to work out.  But IF he does, it prevents us from having to dump more expensive resources into the OL next offseason, and would be that expected "final piece" to the OL.  

That wouldn't be a small thing if it does play out that way.  

[Jetsfan80]

6 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Worse version of edoga, jag.  Sorry the truth hurts.

Link?  Source?  Tape?  You're going to need some evidence to be able to make that kind of assertion.  Basing it entirely on him not playing last year simply isn't enough. 

And I highly doubt you watched a lot of Charlotte games, where Clark opened up gaping holes for one of FBS's least athletic Running Backs, Benny LeMay, making him look very good in the process (2,300+ yards over 2 seasons, 5.5 yards per carry, 20 TDs).  Despite that statistical success, LeMay went undrafted, by the way, and didn't stick with an NFL team, either.  As I alluded to a moment ago regarding his lack of athleticism, I've provided the reason why he didn't get drafted below:

 

The actual "truth" is we really don't know what we have in Clark yet at the pro level.  He's a project OL who didn't have much of an offseason last year.  Now he's under a new regime that brings a proven blocking system into town.  No one has a clue if he will succeed in it or not.  

[Jetsfan80]

3 hours ago, Beerfish said:

You answered your own question, a 4th round pick that we did not see play because he could not beat out our utterly awful oline incumbents.

We also do not know if Christian Hackenburg is a good Qb because we have not seen him play.

Yep, just what I thought.  A post written out of complete ignorance, fully driven by emotion and your stubborn stance that Douglas doesn't know what he's doing. 

Such a shame.  At one time I really enjoyed reading your posts.  

[flgreen]

1 hour ago, CTJetsFan said:

Didn't Alex Lewis have some mental health issue at the end of last season that ended his season early (not unlike most of us here after watching this team lol)?

IDK about that, but I do know he lost his scolarship for awhile  , and did 30 days in jail for beating the crap out of a 5"10" 180# guy who was going to the Air Force academy for no real reason.

Maybe he has some issues.   

[Mavericknyc1980]

11 hours ago, flgreen said:

I have high expections for Clark this season.  Someone had posted an interview with  Duke Manyweather      Becton, and Clark's trainer.  It was mostly about Becton, but at the end of it Manyweather got very excited talking about Clark.  He mentioned how bad the Corvid, and injuries had affected Clark last season,  basacily had no coaching,  and that he is a different guy this year.

Yeah I know, what else is he going to say.  Thing is Clark has some excellent college film.  Can't wait to see him. 

Can you post that interview 

[flgreen]

4 minutes ago, Mavericknyc1980 said:

Can you post that interview 

It's on the site somewhere.  Good luck.   

[slimjasi]

14 hours ago, Jethead said:

I'm thirsty. Gimme some Kool-aid!

Hellz yea. 

It's summertime boys. 

[Bronx]

Some additional info on Cameron:

Production

Clark was a two-star prospect coming out of high school. He was the 242nd ranked offensive lineman and 2,490th best overall prospect. It’s safe to say that nothing much was expected him when he arrived on campus at Charlotte.

Predictably, Clark was redshirted his true freshman season. He played more in his freshman year, appearing in all 12 games, though he only started two of them.

Clark came back in his sophomore year and wreaked havoc. He only started in eight of the 12 games they played, all at left tackle, but he was a game-changer. Clark was such an important player to Charlotte’s offense that the team named him their offensive MVP for the season.

In his junior year, he was named the team’s starting left tackle and started all 12 games. He followed that up with a strong senior season where he started 13 games and was named First-Team All-Conference USA.

Clark also set the record for games played at Charlotte with 49.

Athleticism

Clark isn’t a great athlete. His 5.29 40-time was one of the worst among offensive linemen, his 25-inch vertical is the second-worst in the class, and his 101-inch vertical was bottom-10.

The one thing that Clark does have is his strength. He put up 26 bench reps at the combine, which is three more than Becton put up.

The lack of natural athleticism and the abundance of strength is why Clark will likely be moving to guard at the NFL level. He won’t be asked to take on speed rusher, nor will his footwork be challenged.

His natural strength will be put to the test against interior defenders where he should excel. However, he’ll also need to work on his quickness as he’ll be asked to pull as a guard.

It’s impossible to pinpoint Clark’s quickness and agility as he skipped the three-cone and shuttle drills, but it’s safe to say neither is excellent.

For Clark to succeed at the next level, he’ll need to continue to build up his strength to develop his reputation as a mauler.

Strengths

Clark’s strengths are simple, he’s strong and he’s most of the way there on technique. That alone makes him one of the best developmental prospects in the class.

In the run game, Clark is an absolute mauler. Like Becton, he’s a mean and nasty finisher. He loves to see people put down and stay down in the run game. He led the way blocking for the majority of rush plays for Charlotte.

He’s also got the quick-twitch upper body speed to play inside. He should be able to get his hands up and get leverage with his long arms against interior rushers. If he can do that, his strength should take over and allow him to move men off the line of scrimmage.

He’s best suited to a man-blocking scheme where his limited athletics and excellent strength would be put to work. The issue is head coach Adam Gase runs a zone-blocking scheme, which works against Clark’s strengths. So it’ll be interesting to see what they have in mind for him.

Weaknesses

Clark has a number of things he needs to work on before he sees an NFL field. His penalty issues top the list. Clark was a penalty machine in 2019 due to his lack of athleticism. The hope is that a move to guard will mitigate those issues and lead to fewer penalties.

Pass blocking is another big weakness for the developmental prospect. His feet are slow and he doesn’t anticipate rush lanes well yet. With more reps, his awareness and football IQ will increase, which should mitigate the questions about his ability to recognize rush lanes.

However, his slow feet are a real problem. It’s one of the main reasons he’s being moved to guard. In a man-blocking scheme, his slow feet as a guard wouldn’t be a major issue. He would simply be asked to take his man and leave it at that.

The Jets run a zone-blocking scheme, which will ask a lot more from him. He’ll have to pull and block in the running game, and he’ll be asked to slide and recognize his assignment in pass blocking.

Clark is a very intriguing developmental prospect. His fit with the Jets doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t fit the mold of player that Douglas has been targeting for the Jets offensive line.

[NYJ1]

This is an excellent article identifying what we have in Cam Clarke. Thank you @Bronx for sharing.

There's no doubt the right side of the OL is sketchy and nothing I'm confident of. Mostly because Clarke is yet to be seen or contribute on offense. If he comes out and plays like his tape would indicate it will make George Fant and McGovern substantially better and possibly solidifying our OL overall. It'll be interesting to see how training camp goes for him.....

[NYJ1]

56 minutes ago, Bronx said:

Some additional info on Cameron:

Production

Clark was a two-star prospect coming out of high school. He was the 242nd ranked offensive lineman and 2,490th best overall prospect. It’s safe to say that nothing much was expected him when he arrived on campus at Charlotte.

Predictably, Clark was redshirted his true freshman season. He played more in his freshman year, appearing in all 12 games, though he only started two of them.

Clark came back in his sophomore year and wreaked havoc. He only started in eight of the 12 games they played, all at left tackle, but he was a game-changer. Clark was such an important player to Charlotte’s offense that the team named him their offensive MVP for the season.

In his junior year, he was named the team’s starting left tackle and started all 12 games. He followed that up with a strong senior season where he started 13 games and was named First-Team All-Conference USA.

Clark also set the record for games played at Charlotte with 49.

Athleticism

Clark isn’t a great athlete. His 5.29 40-time was one of the worst among offensive linemen, his 25-inch vertical is the second-worst in the class, and his 101-inch vertical was bottom-10.

The one thing that Clark does have is his strength. He put up 26 bench reps at the combine, which is three more than Becton put up.

The lack of natural athleticism and the abundance of strength is why Clark will likely be moving to guard at the NFL level. He won’t be asked to take on speed rusher, nor will his footwork be challenged.

His natural strength will be put to the test against interior defenders where he should excel. However, he’ll also need to work on his quickness as he’ll be asked to pull as a guard.

It’s impossible to pinpoint Clark’s quickness and agility as he skipped the three-cone and shuttle drills, but it’s safe to say neither is excellent.

For Clark to succeed at the next level, he’ll need to continue to build up his strength to develop his reputation as a mauler.

Strengths

Clark’s strengths are simple, he’s strong and he’s most of the way there on technique. That alone makes him one of the best developmental prospects in the class.

In the run game, Clark is an absolute mauler. Like Becton, he’s a mean and nasty finisher. He loves to see people put down and stay down in the run game. He led the way blocking for the majority of rush plays for Charlotte.

He’s also got the quick-twitch upper body speed to play inside. He should be able to get his hands up and get leverage with his long arms against interior rushers. If he can do that, his strength should take over and allow him to move men off the line of scrimmage.

He’s best suited to a man-blocking scheme where his limited athletics and excellent strength would be put to work. The issue is head coach Adam Gase runs a zone-blocking scheme, which works against Clark’s strengths. So it’ll be interesting to see what they have in mind for him.

Weaknesses

Clark has a number of things he needs to work on before he sees an NFL field. His penalty issues top the list. Clark was a penalty machine in 2019 due to his lack of athleticism. The hope is that a move to guard will mitigate those issues and lead to fewer penalties.

Pass blocking is another big weakness for the developmental prospect. His feet are slow and he doesn’t anticipate rush lanes well yet. With more reps, his awareness and football IQ will increase, which should mitigate the questions about his ability to recognize rush lanes.

However, his slow feet are a real problem. It’s one of the main reasons he’s being moved to guard. In a man-blocking scheme, his slow feet as a guard wouldn’t be a major issue. He would simply be asked to take his man and leave it at that.

The Jets run a zone-blocking scheme, which will ask a lot more from him. He’ll have to pull and block in the running game, and he’ll be asked to slide and recognize his assignment in pass blocking.

Clark is a very intriguing developmental prospect. His fit with the Jets doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t fit the mold of player that Douglas has been targeting for the Jets offensive line.

Looking at this you would think Clarke is a rather risky pick. There's a good possibility he could bust at the pro levEl. After one season it appears he's not good enough to break the starting lineup.

[Biggs]

My alternate theory is he becomes way more important if he sucks the coaches play him despite sucking and he gets Zach killed.   

The guy was a second day pick.  That says there's talent but it needs development.   Good coaches get the most out of players.  They also have to know when they are ready to contribute or when it's time to move on. 

[LIJetsFan]

deleted

[Jetluv58]

22 hours ago, Alka said:

I firmly disagree with you regarding Crowder.  Crowder has proven himself to be one of the most reliable if not the most reliable wide receiver for the Jets over the last few years.

Perriman is gone because he was inconsistent and injured, and Mims only played in 1/2 the games due to injury.

What is the goal of keeping Crowder?

The goal is to make sure that our new QB has reliable, healthy and quality wide receivers to throw to, so that our QB can grow and mature in his position and that the offense can achieve some success for the future.  

I will not assume that Mims will be healthy for the entire season, or that any other receiver will go down for a significant  amount of time this year.  Keeping Crowder will give the Jets more of a buffer if the injury bug hits the wide receiver corps like in recent past years.  The goal of keeping Crowder this year is not to win the Super Bowl.  

We all know Crowder is on borrowed time here. Tebow’s signing will just hasten the process. 

[TheNuuFaaolaExperience]

21 hours ago, Beerfish said:

You answered your own question, a 4th round pick that we did not see play because he could not beat out our utterly awful oline incumbents.

We also do not know if Christian Hackenburg is a good Qb because we have not seen him play.

In no way did I answer my own question.

Hackenberg never played a snap of football in his entire NFL career. Clark didn't play a snap in one season that was interrupted by a global pandemic and injury. These two situations are in no way comparable. 

[Jetsfan80]

1 hour ago, TheNuuFaaolaExperience said:

In no way did I answer my own question.

Hackenberg never played a snap of football in his entire NFL career. Clark didn't play a snap in one season that was interrupted by a global pandemic and injury. These two situations are in no way comparable. 

Doesn't matter what you say man.  Beerfish doesn't like Joe Douglas and won't allow any new information (like a pretty solid looking 2021 offseason, including a solid looking HC hire) influence his views.