Kenny Clark is Comfortable with high Expectations
When you’re the number one draft choice for your team, expectations seem to be a little bit higher for you than any other player drafted behind you.
Nose tackle Kenny Clark – the Green Bay Packers’ top choice in the 2016 draft – is learning that lesson and fast.
Before B.J. Raji put his career on hiatus there seemed to be a consensus that the Packers would draft a nose tackle in the first round. Having Raji gone sped up the process and Clark will be the go-to guy in the position.
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After the first two days of training camp, Clark has been thrown into the fire and is impressing his teammates and coaches. Clark’s strength is a huge factor of why he is getting nods this early in the process.
“For him to be as strong as he is and for young as he is, it should excite everybody,” explained defensive end Mike Daniels.
Daniels has taken Clark under his wing and is grooming him to be the player the Packers need him to be. As I previously mentioned, the defensive line lost Raji to retirement and fellow nose tackle Mike Pennel is suspended for the first four games for violation of the NFL’s drug policy.
The situation couldn’t be more perfect for Clark to make an immediate impact on this defense.
“They’re not putting any kind of pressure on me, they’re just making sure that, ‘Man, you need to be solid by Game 1,” Clark explained. “We want you to be good.’
“I’m taking all that in. I’m excited for it. I’ve been around people like that all my life. I’ve been around hard coaching all my life, so I love it,” Clark continued.
With Clark, there is a lot to be excited about. The first that strikes me is that he is only 20-years-old. Because of his age, he could have a long and successful career with Green Bay and that’s something not uncommon with this organization.
While some players will crack under the pressure of needing to produce, Clark feels comfortable and excited about his chance. He understands that when you are consistent with repetitions on the practice field, real reps will happen on the game field.
“My biggest thing is I need to be consistent at all times,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m never going to lose a rep but I feel like as long as I’m consistent and as long as I’m in the right spot and I’m doing everything I can for this team to win, I’ll be fine.”
The great news is we only have to wait another week to see what Clark can do when the Packers face the Indianapolis Colts on August 7 in the Hall of Fame preseason game.
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