Damone Clark NFL Draft Overview
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 240 pounds
School: LSU
Damone Clark 2022 NFL Draft Profile
The recipient of the storied LSU number 18 jersey, Damone Clark’s draft prospects have taken a dive even after an extremely productive 2021. Clark was a highly-recruited, four-star linebacker from Baton Rouge who went on to play for his hometown team. As a true freshman, Clark appeared in just one game. Clark broke through as a reliable rotational piece as a sophomore and logged 50 tackles, four for loss, and 3.5 sacks. He finished sixth on that national champion team in tackles behind a pair of future first-round linebackers, a second-round safety, a third-round linebacker, and a sixth-round safety.
Clark earned a starting job and the number 18 jersey as a junior. Despite playing in just nine of the team’s ten games, Clark finished the year tied for the team lead with 63 tackles. Four of those tackles were for a loss and he added a sack and defended a pass. His final season in Baton Rouge was his best. Clark dominated all year and logged double-digit tackles eight times. The best game of his career came in a loss against Mississippi State. He was everywhere to the tune of 19 tackles, 2.5 for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble. Clark finished atop the SEC in tackles with 135, earning him First-Team All-SEC honors. Additionally, he had 15 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and an interception.
As productive as Clark was, he required major back surgery following the season, which will affect his draft stock.
Strengths
- Pure sideline-to-sideline defender
- Has lined up as an EDGE, provides positional versatility
- Reliable open-field tackler
- Very strong blitzer, both pure and delayed
- Extremely athletic, hard downhill hitter
- Developed nicely in coverage as the season went on
- Learned from former first-round linebackers
Weaknesses
- Will miss 2022 due to spinal surgery
- Can be fooled on misdirection plays
- Tends to hesitate on run plays
- Route concept recognition will need work
- Speed is built up, not immediate
- Can get caught staring down quarterbacks during reads
NFL Comparison: Malik Jefferson
Teams With Need at Position: Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles
Projection: Fourth or fifth round
Bottom Line on Damone Clark
In terms of talent, Clark is an early day two kind of prospect. The spinal surgery will move him down draft boards to day three because he will likely not be available to play at all during his rookie season. Despite that, teams will trust their medical teams and help develop him into a solid weakside linebacker.
Clark is a great athlete (earning a 9.87 RAS) and will be able to play any linebacker position. Additionally, he can line up as an EDGE rusher in a base 3-4/5-2. In today’s uber-athletic NFL that utilizes tight ends and pass-catching running backs, Clark can make plays all over the field. He is an extremely physical player and, once he improves in coverage, will become a very reliable linebacker.
The surgery will scare plenty of teams, of course. In his time off, Clark will need to take advantage of mental reps to improve upon route recognition. All in all, Clark is a solid linebacker who would be much more highly coveted if he was not going to be sidelined for the entirety of his rookie season.
Main Photo
