Recent OL commit, Jakai Clark, plays for a powerhouse program in Georgia in Grayson High. I wanted to take a look at how he plays in a full game setting, rather than in a highlight video. In this game they are taking on another solid program in Archer, GA.
Clark plays C for Grayson and is joined by two other P5 commits in 5-star Wanya Morris (Tennessee) and 4-star Trente Jones (Michigan). A high school OL with three P5 commitments is fairly unheard of and just shows the amount of talent his team has.
You can see right off the bat that Clark is definitely the leader of the OL. He is immediately directing traffic, pointing out where players need to pay attention, and all eyes and ears are on him pre-snap.
Clark snaps the ball without the laces, which is a fairly new technique, but is currently en vogue.
After the snap, Archer stunts with the DE and DT. The initial stunt causes a push, but Clark recovers nicely to move his man out-of-the-hole and you can see him here driving with excellent knee bend and a nice, flat back. This play goes for a TD down the sideline, and Clark handling the initial stunt action allowed his QB time to escape and find a receiver. The guy he’s blocking is an Auburn commit.
Archer is undersized on the DL and they actually had their DL jump into the legs of the OL on this play like you might see on a kneel-down play trying to knock the ball out of the QB’s hands at the end of a game. Think the Greg Schiano Tampa Buccaneers play. Clark sprawled very well and then buried his defender. The 4-star LT went to the ground on the play. (Not pictured)
He gets beat here and absolutely tackles the DT (#41). That initial quickness gave him trouble here.
Next play he gets his shoulder on the DT and releases to the LB but misses the block, honestly. His RB got through the hole and past the defender before he could get him down though. (Not pictured)
They run a QB draw on the next play and Clark tries to cut his man and doesn’t get him down. The defender scampers over and tackles the QB after a gain of 5. (Not pictured)
Grayson asks Clark to get to the second level quite a bit. He got his initial hit and shocked his man back. I’d like to see more ferocity in his strikes. He’s more of a leaner right now than he is a true puncher. He put the dude on the ground at least. Last year, Archer beat Grayson 6-3, so this isn’t a scrub defense they’re playing. Here is the lean I’m talking about (#55). If you lean into LB’s and quicker players you will get your weight over your toes a lot more and tend to drop your head and miss your target on the move.
Clark is pretty good at that sprawl, which tells me he might have a wrestling background. Good feet and hand coordination (meaning the hands and feet work together in coordinated movements, rather than being out-of-sync). #58 here tried to shoot low and Clark was having none of it and forced him to eat dirt for the payment.
Quickness at the snap seems to give Clark trouble. #41 got inside of his shoulder and shocked him back and really pushed him back into the backfield on the next play. QB threw it away. (Not pictured)
He showed his good feet on the next play and cut his man down easily. (Not pictured)
Here Clark is absolutely man-handling this defender. #55 is next to the RT right at the LOS and his defender is actually flailing as he gets pancaked.
Clark has a lot of natural power. Here he is taking this kid for a ride (kid standing tall with his arm on the helmet of the OL). If he brought his hands with him here this kid would have been on his back and hard. He’s strong enough to shock this kid badly, but if he learns to use his hands in that jolt he could really develop into a people-mover with that power. After he hits this block he actually falls to the ground because again, his weight is over his toes rather than back and with his hands delivering the blow. #7 made it easy on him here by simply standing up and exposing his chest to the OL.
Archer shoots the gap at the snap again and this time Clark lands on his man, but too far into his legs and his man reaches up and grabs the runners’ legs for a tackle. (Not pictured)
Grayson teaches a weird protection set in FG protection. They have them simply lean at an angle into the defense instead of actually trying to block them. Not sure why they teach it this way, but #7 got a measure of revenge against Clark and planted him here (#7 is an Auburn commit). Clark is playing two over from the C on FG protection. Obviously, this technique was less than effective, as Archer blocked it easily. Something I liked afterwards though was seeing his movement skills as he ran after the ball after it was blocked. He is a quick player for his size and has a nice motor.
You expect Clark to be able to overpower the NT, who is 5-10, 220, but he does a nice job of using his leg drive to turn him completely out of the hole here. I wrote often in my film reviews about our OL not always understanding leverage and how to use it to turn a defender and Clark does that very well here rather than going too fast and getting off balance.
Clark snaps for punts but not FG’s. Interesting. By the way, Owen Pappoe is a freak show. If Pappoe and a few of his OL teammates wanted to join him here I wouldn’t be mad.
To this point the biggest negative I have with Clark is his propensity to be on the ground. He tripped his RT here trying to make a cut block. This game is a weird game because the NT for Archer is so undersized they’re using him like a sacrificial lamb on most plays and just asking him to create a muck right up front by diving and shooting gaps.
It’s so unusual the way they teach FG protection. They just lean like this and don’t actually block anyone in particular.
The main problem with Clark continues to be his lack of hand usage. This player on the edge jumps into the air as #74 falls down. Clark has a direct shot at him while he’s in the air and he just tries to duck into him and lean with his right shoulder into him. He barely touches him and doesn’t block him at all. If he fires his hands into the chest of #4 they’re picking pieces of him up out of the turf. You’ve got to absolutely bury this defender, Jakai.
Locks his arms out and controls the DT here. He gets his hands out wide too far though and that makes it so the DT can swipe his arms off of him and redirect. Again, the problem is that this kid is 5-10, 220 pounds. There are certain techniques he handles well and there are other areas he is going to need to have a lot of coaching to get better. This play ends in a long passing TD.
This is what the Archer NT does on the majority of plays. He just dives in there trying to create a mess. Clark pretty much just dives on him each time and plants him there.
Threw his man to the ground and then buried him on a fade route for the TD. (Not pictured)
Something that Clark is excellent at is looking for work when he is uncovered (no defender playing over him and no one he is responsible for on the blitz). He really shows his natural power on down blocks like this one.
Clark fires out high on this play and is once again leaning. If he fires out and then up with his elbows in and brings a strong lift punch he could basically take this defender’s soul. He gets the block, but not anywhere near the level he could have with this kind of quickness at the snap before the defender is ready to leverage. This is the Auburn commit, so a legit talent.
Auburn kid shoots the gap and Clark saves the day with his awareness and quickness. He pushes him just wide enough and the RB has some room. The RT was supposed to have this defender but he shot the gap before he could get there as they pulled the RG and the RT was trying to downblock. Honestly might be the best play of the game for Clark because he was smart enough to come off of his assignment (defender standing behind the LOS was the guy Clark was supposed to release to) and saved the play to get 6 rather than a loss of several. Sometimes you just have to be smart and save the play first.
There is a lot of natural power in this young man. Look what happens to defenders when he actually uses his hands correctly. He delivers a man punch to this defender who is absolutely flattened up against the OL next to him. The play goes for a TD deep.
Grayson went on to blow out Archer, so there wasn’t much from here.
Positives
He has very good hand-to-feet coordination. That allows him to sprawl quite well and to change directions when he needs to hit a moving target to either side.
Flexibility is a strength of his.
Looks for work with the best of them. Any time a G or T is blocking someone and he is uncovered that defender is going to take a shot to the ribs. He delivers some violent shots in these situations, which makes me believe he can be coached to be violent in heads-up situations as well. Having the violent temperament to do it in some situations is a lot better than not showing it at all.
Natural power in his upper body. When he actually shocks a defender, they move. He delivers a pop with just his shoulder often times.
Very smart and aware player. On the play I mentioned was his best play of the game it was a situation he will see on the major college level quite often and he handled it well.
Opportunities
Clark carries some bad weight in his midsection. He will need to reshape his body when he gets to college.
At this point he has nary a clue how to use his hands to deliver a punch, to redirect, and to lock out a defender.
Speed is going to give him trouble in pass protection.
I’d like to see him be a better finisher. There were several blocks that he had initially and then the defender slid off of him (because he doesn’t use his hands well) and got involved with the play. This could be as simple as getting his hands more involved, but I didn’t see a mean streak stand out in this game.
Clark is on the ground more than I want to see from my C. My guess is the balance issues are technique related as he gets out over his toes far too often trying to lean into defenders with his shoulder, rather than delivering a violent strike.
Shorter prospect with short arms. He will be limited to C-only at the next level, which limits his upside. If he’s not starting, he’s not providing a ton of value.
Outlook
Next season, Miami will have Corey Gaynor and Hayden Mahoney ready to compete for the starting C position. That will allow Clark some much needed time to redshirt. Clark is not arriving until summer, so he is already limited in his time to get ready to play next year. Once on campus, Clark should focus on three things:
Clark plays C for Grayson and is joined by two other P5 commits in 5-star Wanya Morris (Tennessee) and 4-star Trente Jones (Michigan). A high school OL with three P5 commitments is fairly unheard of and just shows the amount of talent his team has.
You can see right off the bat that Clark is definitely the leader of the OL. He is immediately directing traffic, pointing out where players need to pay attention, and all eyes and ears are on him pre-snap.
Clark snaps the ball without the laces, which is a fairly new technique, but is currently en vogue.
After the snap, Archer stunts with the DE and DT. The initial stunt causes a push, but Clark recovers nicely to move his man out-of-the-hole and you can see him here driving with excellent knee bend and a nice, flat back. This play goes for a TD down the sideline, and Clark handling the initial stunt action allowed his QB time to escape and find a receiver. The guy he’s blocking is an Auburn commit.
Archer is undersized on the DL and they actually had their DL jump into the legs of the OL on this play like you might see on a kneel-down play trying to knock the ball out of the QB’s hands at the end of a game. Think the Greg Schiano Tampa Buccaneers play. Clark sprawled very well and then buried his defender. The 4-star LT went to the ground on the play. (Not pictured)
He gets beat here and absolutely tackles the DT (#41). That initial quickness gave him trouble here.
Next play he gets his shoulder on the DT and releases to the LB but misses the block, honestly. His RB got through the hole and past the defender before he could get him down though. (Not pictured)
They run a QB draw on the next play and Clark tries to cut his man and doesn’t get him down. The defender scampers over and tackles the QB after a gain of 5. (Not pictured)
Grayson asks Clark to get to the second level quite a bit. He got his initial hit and shocked his man back. I’d like to see more ferocity in his strikes. He’s more of a leaner right now than he is a true puncher. He put the dude on the ground at least. Last year, Archer beat Grayson 6-3, so this isn’t a scrub defense they’re playing. Here is the lean I’m talking about (#55). If you lean into LB’s and quicker players you will get your weight over your toes a lot more and tend to drop your head and miss your target on the move.
Clark is pretty good at that sprawl, which tells me he might have a wrestling background. Good feet and hand coordination (meaning the hands and feet work together in coordinated movements, rather than being out-of-sync). #58 here tried to shoot low and Clark was having none of it and forced him to eat dirt for the payment.
Quickness at the snap seems to give Clark trouble. #41 got inside of his shoulder and shocked him back and really pushed him back into the backfield on the next play. QB threw it away. (Not pictured)
He showed his good feet on the next play and cut his man down easily. (Not pictured)
Here Clark is absolutely man-handling this defender. #55 is next to the RT right at the LOS and his defender is actually flailing as he gets pancaked.
Clark has a lot of natural power. Here he is taking this kid for a ride (kid standing tall with his arm on the helmet of the OL). If he brought his hands with him here this kid would have been on his back and hard. He’s strong enough to shock this kid badly, but if he learns to use his hands in that jolt he could really develop into a people-mover with that power. After he hits this block he actually falls to the ground because again, his weight is over his toes rather than back and with his hands delivering the blow. #7 made it easy on him here by simply standing up and exposing his chest to the OL.
Archer shoots the gap at the snap again and this time Clark lands on his man, but too far into his legs and his man reaches up and grabs the runners’ legs for a tackle. (Not pictured)
Grayson teaches a weird protection set in FG protection. They have them simply lean at an angle into the defense instead of actually trying to block them. Not sure why they teach it this way, but #7 got a measure of revenge against Clark and planted him here (#7 is an Auburn commit). Clark is playing two over from the C on FG protection. Obviously, this technique was less than effective, as Archer blocked it easily. Something I liked afterwards though was seeing his movement skills as he ran after the ball after it was blocked. He is a quick player for his size and has a nice motor.
You expect Clark to be able to overpower the NT, who is 5-10, 220, but he does a nice job of using his leg drive to turn him completely out of the hole here. I wrote often in my film reviews about our OL not always understanding leverage and how to use it to turn a defender and Clark does that very well here rather than going too fast and getting off balance.
Clark snaps for punts but not FG’s. Interesting. By the way, Owen Pappoe is a freak show. If Pappoe and a few of his OL teammates wanted to join him here I wouldn’t be mad.
To this point the biggest negative I have with Clark is his propensity to be on the ground. He tripped his RT here trying to make a cut block. This game is a weird game because the NT for Archer is so undersized they’re using him like a sacrificial lamb on most plays and just asking him to create a muck right up front by diving and shooting gaps.
It’s so unusual the way they teach FG protection. They just lean like this and don’t actually block anyone in particular.
The main problem with Clark continues to be his lack of hand usage. This player on the edge jumps into the air as #74 falls down. Clark has a direct shot at him while he’s in the air and he just tries to duck into him and lean with his right shoulder into him. He barely touches him and doesn’t block him at all. If he fires his hands into the chest of #4 they’re picking pieces of him up out of the turf. You’ve got to absolutely bury this defender, Jakai.
Locks his arms out and controls the DT here. He gets his hands out wide too far though and that makes it so the DT can swipe his arms off of him and redirect. Again, the problem is that this kid is 5-10, 220 pounds. There are certain techniques he handles well and there are other areas he is going to need to have a lot of coaching to get better. This play ends in a long passing TD.
This is what the Archer NT does on the majority of plays. He just dives in there trying to create a mess. Clark pretty much just dives on him each time and plants him there.
Threw his man to the ground and then buried him on a fade route for the TD. (Not pictured)
Something that Clark is excellent at is looking for work when he is uncovered (no defender playing over him and no one he is responsible for on the blitz). He really shows his natural power on down blocks like this one.
Clark fires out high on this play and is once again leaning. If he fires out and then up with his elbows in and brings a strong lift punch he could basically take this defender’s soul. He gets the block, but not anywhere near the level he could have with this kind of quickness at the snap before the defender is ready to leverage. This is the Auburn commit, so a legit talent.
Auburn kid shoots the gap and Clark saves the day with his awareness and quickness. He pushes him just wide enough and the RB has some room. The RT was supposed to have this defender but he shot the gap before he could get there as they pulled the RG and the RT was trying to downblock. Honestly might be the best play of the game for Clark because he was smart enough to come off of his assignment (defender standing behind the LOS was the guy Clark was supposed to release to) and saved the play to get 6 rather than a loss of several. Sometimes you just have to be smart and save the play first.
There is a lot of natural power in this young man. Look what happens to defenders when he actually uses his hands correctly. He delivers a man punch to this defender who is absolutely flattened up against the OL next to him. The play goes for a TD deep.
Grayson went on to blow out Archer, so there wasn’t much from here.
Positives
He has very good hand-to-feet coordination. That allows him to sprawl quite well and to change directions when he needs to hit a moving target to either side.
Flexibility is a strength of his.
Looks for work with the best of them. Any time a G or T is blocking someone and he is uncovered that defender is going to take a shot to the ribs. He delivers some violent shots in these situations, which makes me believe he can be coached to be violent in heads-up situations as well. Having the violent temperament to do it in some situations is a lot better than not showing it at all.
Natural power in his upper body. When he actually shocks a defender, they move. He delivers a pop with just his shoulder often times.
Very smart and aware player. On the play I mentioned was his best play of the game it was a situation he will see on the major college level quite often and he handled it well.
Opportunities
Clark carries some bad weight in his midsection. He will need to reshape his body when he gets to college.
At this point he has nary a clue how to use his hands to deliver a punch, to redirect, and to lock out a defender.
Speed is going to give him trouble in pass protection.
I’d like to see him be a better finisher. There were several blocks that he had initially and then the defender slid off of him (because he doesn’t use his hands well) and got involved with the play. This could be as simple as getting his hands more involved, but I didn’t see a mean streak stand out in this game.
Clark is on the ground more than I want to see from my C. My guess is the balance issues are technique related as he gets out over his toes far too often trying to lean into defenders with his shoulder, rather than delivering a violent strike.
Shorter prospect with short arms. He will be limited to C-only at the next level, which limits his upside. If he’s not starting, he’s not providing a ton of value.
Outlook
Next season, Miami will have Corey Gaynor and Hayden Mahoney ready to compete for the starting C position. That will allow Clark some much needed time to redshirt. Clark is not arriving until summer, so he is already limited in his time to get ready to play next year. Once on campus, Clark should focus on three things:
- Getting his body remade and stronger.
- Learning to use his hands as a blocker.
- Becoming comfortable with the playbook so that he understands everyone’s assignments. If smarts and awareness are going to be the calling card, they need to stand out.
