Frank Clark is becoming Seahawks next dominant player

The Seahawks drafted Frank Clark in the second round in 2015. Seattle took a chance on a player that had some murky personal history. The Seahawks now look like they made a very wise choice with Clark.

To be fair, Frank Clark was never a real second-round talent. The Seahawks knew this when they took him with the 63rd overall pick. Clark had first round ability. Because of a domestic violence allegation, Clark fell to Seattle. Since coming to Seattle, Clark has not had any problems with legal issues. But this isn’t about Clark’s off the field life; this is about what Clark is becoming on the football field.

In short, Clark is the second-coming of Cliff Avril. Yet, Clark is just 24 years old. He will be a productive and important player with the Seahawks for many years.

In 2016, Clark was 15th in the NFL with 10 sacks. This was a very quiet 10 sacks, mind you. The national media tends to focus on Seattle’s more outspoken veterans like Michael Bennett. And while Bennett is still better at stopping the run than Clark, Clark may have passed Bennett as a pure pass-rusher. Bennett has never had Clark’s speed. Few players do.

Left tackle Andrew Whitworth of the Los Angeles Rams learned how fast Clark could be when Clark beat him almost cleanly around the edge on Sunday. Clark sacked quarterback Jared Goff and forced him to fumble. This was recovered by Seattle. Whitworth had allowed one quarterback pressure all season prior to watching Clark run by him.

So far in 2017, Clark has 2.5 sacks. I expect Clark to get to 10 sacks again this season. Currently, he is on pace for just eight. But with Avril out for an extended time, Clark will get more snaps. Teams will have to begin to gameplan for Clark. This only helps the defense as a whole.

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In three seasons, though, Clark will be the alpha on the Seahawks defensive line. We are just beginning to see how great he will be.