The K.C. Chiefs need to see more production from Frank Clark

Frank Clark didn’t have a great 2020 season for the Kansas City Chiefs by any means. He didn’t have a bad season either. He just didn’t live up to his contract and, quite frank-ly, hasn’t lived up to his massive contract since he’s gotten to K.C.—at least not in the regular season. You can argue Clark made his money in the 2019 postseason but his 2020 postseason was rather pedestrian despite a few bright spots. Overall, Chiefs fans are right in wanting to see more out from the $100 million pass rusher.

Before we get into how Clark can improve next season, let’s clarify why exactly Clark has been disappointing. In 2020, Clark racked up 21 solo tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 15 quarterback hits, and 6 sacks. Now let’s compare Clark’s 2020 season to the only two defensive players that have a higher cap hit than him next season in Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack. In 2020, Donald recorded 27 solo tackles, 14 TFL, 28 QB hits, and 13.5 sacks. Meanwhile, Mack recorded 29 solo tackles, 11 TFL, 13 QB Hits, and 9 sacks. Those are substantially better seasons than Clark’s on paper.

We can even go a bit further and compare Clark’s season to a couple lower-caliber players if some think Mack and Donald are an unfair comparison. How about Justin Houston and Emmanuel Ogbah—two former Chiefs? In 2020, Houston recorded 19 solo tackles, 8 TFL, 12 QB Hits, and 8 sacks, while Ogbah recorded 25 solo tackles, 6 TFL, 21 QB Hits, and 9 sacks. Yes, those numbers aren’t anything drastically better than Clark’s, but when you consider how much less those two players make than Clark, then those numbers start to look a lot better.

K.C. Chiefs need to see more production from Frank Clark in 2021.

Many will point out that you can still get pressure without the sack numbers, but Clark had a 9.8% pressure rate in 2020 which ranked 53rd among defensive lineman in the NFL. Many will also point out that Clark does more than rush the passer, referencing his run defense, but assuming that’s true (even though Clark had a 55.7 run defense grade according to PFF) does an average pass rusher and solid run stopper still warrant a $100 million price tag? You all get the point.

So how can Clark improve? Step one is adding another competent pass rusher at the opposite defensive end spot. This should in theory, improve Clark’s play. Alex Okafor looks to be on the way out and it was reported by Nate Taylor of The Athletic that the Chiefs want to add a veteran pass-rusher to help out on the defensive line. Making a move like that could open things up for the entire pass rush.

If the Chiefs could add someone that opposing defenses actually have to take seriously, then offenses can’t focus as much on bottling up Frank Clark and Chris Jones like they were able to do in 2020. Some potential names to watch in free agency are defensive lineman Markus Golden, Justin Houston, Von Miller, and Olivier Vernon.

The next way Clark could improve in 2021 is by simply winning more one-on-one snaps. Clark struggled to beat his man a lot this past season. This was disappointing to watch as Clark seemed to be a lot more successful at beating his blocker in Seattle with a fantastic bull rush and occasional spin move. If you watched Clark closely in 2020, he appeared to try and run around the tackle almost every play, which you can imagine didn’t work very often. Clark has to be more creative with his chosen moves and create more sacks on his own.

ESPN’s Seth Walder ranked the top 46 players in the NFL this past season with “sacks created”. Sacks created credits the player who first beat their blocker as opposed to the player who only finished the sack. Frank Clark did not rank in the top 46.

We already mentioned how getting another edge presence will help open things up for Clark, but he still has to win more of his snaps at the end of the day. Yes, Clark still faces double teams, which is why getting another edge presence would ideally help that improve. But how much will it actually? Because Clark was bottom-third in the NFL among starting defensive ends in double-team rate as well as pass-rush win rate according to this chart also created by Walder:

Double-teamed or not, Clark just has to win more of his snaps, which isn’t too much to ask. Clark’s cap hit next season will be around $25.8 million and will only continue to rise over the next few years. That being said, Clark’s production should also rise along with his increasing cap hit if he wants to stick around in Kansas City, because right now it is looking like the resources that were put into acquiring Clark could have been allocated a lot better.