ROUND 1 PICK 27 - DT KENNY CLARK (UCLA)

is he a lunch pail guy, though?

Cool story about Kenny Jr. and his dad. 

"One thing for sure that I know," Kenny Jr. says, "my dad was a great dad."

Then came the evening of May 22, 2004. Kenny Jr. was at home when he heard screams outside -- first from one of his 4-year-old twin sisters, then from his dad. He said he walked out and saw his dad on the ground bleeding, surrounded by police.

"He was just telling me, 'Go get your mom, go get your mom,' " Kenny Jr. said. "I remember I was just standing there in shock."

I like those highlights, Clark's got quicks for a big guy and looks like he is a sure tackler as well.

antooo posted:

Clark also showed a knack for batting down passes, breaking up five on the year.

Sounds like Johnny Jolly.

Jolly was a great sixth rounder.

For the scouting nerds, 45 minute tape breakdown of Clark vs Stanford.  Good analysis here.

One things for sure.  Whoever drafts that Stanford center wasted a pick.

McGinn with a nice snapshot this morning.

... In a Journal Sentinel poll of scouts regarding the best 3-4 nose tackle, Clark finished first with 32 points followed by Baylor's Andrew Billings (28), Penn State's Austin Johnson (23) and Reed (19).

Counting all votes for defensive linemen in both 4-3 and 3-4 schemes, the Journal Sentinel poll showed Buckner (81), Joey Bosa (79), Reed (61), Clark (53), Robinson (38) and Rankins and Billings, each 37...

http://www.jsonline.com/sports...030z1-377503551.html

Cavetoad posted:

packmon posted:

love the pick. fits the scheme well. excited to see him go to work. 

Agreed.

Former high school wrestler

I think this is a trigger for TT with Mike Daniels performance.   Add in his youth and health and it's a good, albeit safe pick.  My guess is this was a very specific target for what this year's defense may look like.  So hogs and run blockers for generic 3-4 schemes may not be the call.

Seems like a decent pick at this juncture of the draft.  I agree that this must have been "their" guy with a large number of the DTs still available.  Im still a little shocked they didn't trade down to get another 3rd or 4th.  The offers must have sucked.. or they are masking how much they really like this guy and felt they couldn't move down (this might be more the case).

I wonder if they will try and move up in the 2nd round and grab Hunter Henry.

X4's own Henry would be happy at very least.

Nice bubble? 

In TT we trust.  

I like the pick.  Not a sexy pick, but he immediately fills a position of need.  It sounds like he was the best option at that position.  And I haven't read about any glaring negatives (e.g., injuries, bad character, etc.).

Grave Digger posted:

They showed the war room cam after the pick and Ted let out a big "whoa" sigh when everyone was cheering. I think he knows he made a difficult pick with so much talent on the board.

My hunch is that Clark is a guy they've wanted for a while and weren't really expecting the chips to fall this way. That said, guarantee Clark was on top of their board...above Ragland, Reed, Robinson, etc

Keen observation.

It seems like a NO DUH, but every year people talk about how the player he chose wasn't the top guy on THE board, as if he settles or drafts for need. 

Would've never thought that Myles Jack, Reggie Ragland, Jarran Reed, A'Shawn Robinson, Billings, and Vernon Butler would all be available when the Pack was on the clock. Was hoping for Butler but will trust the Albino Master.

So many quality guys to chose from. Looking forward to pick #2

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

UCLA center Billy McGillicuddy and Bruin long snapper Brad Shidzworth still available so many options for Ted

Grave Digger posted:

It seems like a NO DUH, but every year people talk about how the player he chose wasn't the top guy on THE board, as if he settles or drafts for need. 

He does draft for need, and I'm sure Clark was the top guy on his need board.

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

Really?

http://www.sportingnews.com/li...nts-jets-49ers-colts 

LOL!

Another consideration, although it's short sighted, he's going to need to be plugged in right off the bat.  Healthy and not stupid may be another reason why TT had him tagged.

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

TT certainly has had some major misses in the first round and it's fair to criticize him for it, but aren't you ignoring (what I think are) recent successes of HHCD and the promising Randall? I'm still holding out some hope for Datone Jones in the elephant role.

Given TT's notable failures at drafting DL, I wonder what it is that has been the issue in drafting them - is it the requirements of Capers' scheme?  is it a failure in scouting?

Here come the cock roaches to $#!T on our parade.

Clark doesn't turn 21 until October. He hasn't even grown into his man body yet. 

Our history of consistent, competitive winning football, year after year, is all we need to shut up any naysayers. 

TT ain't perfect but there isn't another GM on the planet I'd rather have running our favorite franchise. 

Well, Capers scheme has definitely been evolving.  Going from a two gap to one gap with more motion and using an archetype of long lean DEs.  Ends up those guys are better in OLB or a 4-3 look.  I think they found the target with guys like Daniels, Raji (before he was misused) and even Guion.  Relatively stout guys but not hogs.  Hustlers with some grit to them.

It wouldn't surprise me if TT was basically trying fit a supposed mold for The Wizard instead sticking to his scouting instincts.  Either way it's mixed results but I think he's found the sweet spot.

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

You might be the only person who moderately follows the NFL that believes Thompson hasn't drafted well. 

50k Club posted:

.

Given TT's notable failures at drafting DL, I wonder what it is that has been the issue in drafting them - is it the requirements of Capers' scheme?  is it a failure in scouting?

There are only so many big-guys with the athleticism to play consistently in the NFL. How many DL get picked every year that are highly touted but never meat the expectations? Thompson isn't perfect, but he is in the conversation for 2 or 3 best GM's  / Talent Scouts in the NFL. Do denying that.

The more I read about this guy the more I like him.  Sounds like TT went BPA at a position of need again.  

It would be an interesting exercise to determine who has the best drafted DL in the league. STL? DEN? CIN? ARZ? All the ones that come to mind have FA additions.  Don't have time to parse them all out.

Hungry5 posted:

won't be 21 until October

I like the pick.  I just hope he doesn't turn bad when he gets his first sip of demon alcohol.

FLPACKER posted:

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

Really?

http://www.sportingnews.com/li...nts-jets-49ers-colts 

 

Orlando Wolf posted:

I see some blocked field goals in our future!

DH13 posted:

It would be an interesting exercise to determine who has the best drafted DL in the league. STL? DEN? CIN? ARZ? All the ones that come to mind have FA additions.  Don't have time to parse them all out.

Nor do I.

If someone were to dig these out, I'd bet that very every successful DL pick they find they could identify 10 who failed.

Who's the slob holding Clark up in the pic? Clark is a solid 3 bills. Looks like 47? What's consensus board say about that monster?

Boris posted:

Here come the cock roaches to $#!T on our parade.

Clark doesn't turn 21 until October. He hasn't even grown into his man body yet. 

Our history of consistent, competitive winning football, year after year, is all we need to shut up any naysayers. 

TT ain't perfect but there isn't another GM on the planet I'd rather have running our favorite franchise. 

As I keep saying I fully and completely trust TT.  His picks aren't flashy and his moves for the roster aren't what everyone wants in today's instant gratification society.  But, as Boris said there is no one I would rather want running my favorite team and having them competitive EVERY year and as a fan that is good enough for me.   I am old enough to remember how the 70's and 80's felt with the Packers being a total dumpster fire with no hope.  Which makes me appreciate TT even more.

Orlando Wolf posted:

That photo is painful for us UCLA fans.  

The player lifting Clark up was Eddie Vanderdoes (who will be a high first round pick next year).  Vanderdoes hurt his knee lifting Clark  and was lost for the year.  

http://www.latimes.com/sports/...-20150907-story.html

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

Diggr is treating the draft thread as his personal "OTA's" to prep himself for the whining that he does on the gameday threads.

Gramatica-like.

When #27 came up and Ragland, Reed and Robinson were on the board I was pretty confident that Thompson would pick one of two players.  Kenny Clark or Chris Jones.  I wouldn't argue with anyone that would say that Jarran Reed is a better player at this point, will probably be a better NFL player and has a much higher floor than Clark.  All that is probably true, but I thought Thompson would put a huge emphasis on pass-rush upside and both Clark and Jones have a greater upside to make an impact as a pass-rusher than either Reed or Robinson.  B.J Raji was playing lights out at the beginning of last year, as well as a run-stuffing nose tackle could play in this defense.  The percentage of snaps played by Raji in the first four games was only 53.9%.  Reed could step into the NFL and be a stud against the run immediately, but if he doesn't show the ability to get after the passer then Capers will have him on the bench 50% of the time.  Other teams probably wouldn't but that's how Capers operates, and Thompson wasn't going to spend that pick on a defensive lineman with limited upside as a pass-rusher.  He could draft a run-stuffer later on to provide depth (now that the starting group of Daniels-Clark-Guion is probably set), but he wasn't going to spend his first rounder on one.

In the end I think this is what set Clark apart from the other candidates at #27.

10-yard dash average time = 1.73 seconds (4th best at Indy among 300+ pound defensive linemen).  29 reps of 225.  Short shuttle = 4.62 seconds (tied for 4th best among 300+ pound defensive linemen).  Did the 3-cone drill at the UCLA pro day and posted a time of 7.73 seconds, which would have been 4th best for 300+ pound defensive linemen at Indy.

Thompson really seems to put a ton of value into workout numbers when drafting defense.  And when you get into the defensive front seven, the short shuttle and 3-cone drill times seem to be even more important to Thompson. 

14 hours ago that would have been an awesome post.

slowmo, nothing Organized with regards to Diggr14.

Clark's production was pretty crazy for the position. 75 tackles (!), 11 TFL, 6 sacks, 5 tipped passes. Think he blows away the field from a purely number standpoint. 

Diggr14 posted:

Well, he hasn't drafted very well this decade.  Maybe people are making excuses for him still.  He's cashing that AR-12 check hard and has been for a while.  Fell into his lap.

Hey!! Who let the cockroaches in?!

I really need to step up the security in here. I'll need to run to the Home Depot after work and see if I can pick up some cheap deadbolt locks. Worst case scenario, we'll have to use a secret handshake in this thread.

Also, whoever ripped the screen door off its hinges in the back, please fix that. Code Enforcement's already up my kiester about the "shaky" fire escape.

Silly, rambunctious drunk geese, the lot of you.

Hungry5 posted:

14 hours ago that would have been an awesome post.

 

Was a really awesome post since part of it was a cut-and-paste job from a post nearly three weeks old.

https://packers.timesfour.com/t...draft-thread?page=18

packmon posted:

is he a lunch pail guy, though?

Cool story about Kenny Jr. and his dad. 

 

"One thing for sure that I know," Kenny Jr. says, "my dad was a great dad."

Then came the evening of May 22, 2004. Kenny Jr. was at home when he heard screams outside -- first from one of his 4-year-old twin sisters, then from his dad. He said he walked out and saw his dad on the ground bleeding, surrounded by police.

"He was just telling me, 'Go get your mom, go get your mom,' " Kenny Jr. said. "I remember I was just standing there in shock."

That is a sobering tale. I cannot imagine having to live through that as a child like they have had to.