When the Green Bay Packers reached what seemed like a team-friendly extension with defensive tackle Kenny Clark back in July, it was some sort of relief for the front office. After all, nobody on the roster could replicate Clark's ability to be on the field for all three downs and be as complete of an interior defensive lineman as he is.

But Clark has had an uncharacteristically bad start of the season. Even though Clark is second on the team in total pressures (7), just behind Devonte Wyatt and ahead of every edge rusher, the down to down consistency isn't there.

Through three weeks, Kenny Clark is the lowest-graded (37.9) defensive player on the Packers — the only one with a defensive grade lower than 40. The run defense, an area in which Clark has been solid throughout his NFL career, is particularly troubling.

Different role

The silver lining for Kenny Clark — and for the Packers — is that the 2016 first-round pick is still learning and adapting to a new scheme. After playing under Dom Capers, Mike Pettine, and Joe Barry, this is the first time in the NFL that Clark is playing a 4-3 base defense.

And that might not matter as much as it would 15, 20 years ago, but it still makes a difference upfront. Early in his career, Clark used to play mostly as a nose tackle — 344 nose tackle snaps in 2019, for instance.

Under Barry, that started to change, with Clark playing more as a 3-tech defensive tackle. But he would still play at least 100 nose snaps in a season. Last season felt like a big outlier, and Clark only had 44 NT snaps. This year, he has had only six, on pace for 34 in the entire year.

At the same time, Clark is on pace to play 566 snaps on the B gap, which would be his career high by more than 100 plays.

In the current construction of the defense under Jeff Hafley, a 4-3 base, there basically isn't a true nose. There was one in only 19 snaps — 10 for TJ Slaton, six for Clark, three for Devonte Wyatt.

In the offseason, Kenny Clark mentioned how excited he was to play Hafley's scheme, and how it would help him be more effective.

"He's going to bring it," Clark said of Hafley in April. "I think this scheme, it'll be good for us up front. It's going to allow us to be way more disruptive."

And to a certain degree, it has been for interior defensive linemen. The Packers have generated 21 pressures with defensive tackles this season, against 18 from edge rushers and seven from off-ball linebackers.

It's not the start Kenny Clark would want, especially in run defense. But there are reasons to be optimistic and, especially, to have patience with one of the most talented pieces of the roster.

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