Every year New York Jets fans fall in love with a player on the roster who isn’t normally in the spotlight but for one reason or another connects with the fanbase. The player becomes a story we all root for throughout the summer as we hope they make the team and can hopefully make an impact at the next level. Well, one player that Jets fans were rooting hard for might not be on the roster for much longer. Connor Hughes of The Athletic was recently asked in a mailbag about the inside scoop on offensive lineman Cameron Clark. The former fourth-round draft choice suffered a scary neck injury during training camp and missed the entire 2021 season. Now heading into a pivotal third-year fans have been wondering out loud if he has a chance to be a key contributor in 2022? Hughes was blunt in his assessment saying, “I wouldn’t factor him into any long-term plans” with the team. Despite an opening in the starting lineup last season and a cult-like fan interest in his success, the Jets “never really considered him an option to start” per Hughes. Now it appears “he’ll face an uphill battle” just to make the roster next season, let alone trying to make an impact on the field. If Clark isn’t the answer, which would mean another failed draft pick from Joe Douglas’ 2020 class, then they’ll have to look elsewhere to solve the hole at right guard. The 24-year-old initially entered the league as the No. 129 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Despite some intriguing upside, the youngster has yet to register a meaningful statistic in his two seasons with the team. It appears his days are numbered on the roster and the Jets will have to explore all options. One that the team turned down last year that they could revisit is shifting center Connor McGovern to right guard. He has some prior experience from his days with the Denver Broncos and in essence, you could hit two birds with one stone this offseason. By drafting or signing a natural center you could fill two holes at the same time. The Jets had that same opportunity last year and turned it down because Douglas believed in McGovern’s upside. While he had a very decent season in 2021, you can never get complacent when trying to put the best five offensive linemen on the football field. ESPN recently released their top 50 free agents for the 2022 new league year and nine interior offensive linemen cracked the list. That presents a lot of opportunities for the Jets to fill the biggest remaining hole in the trenches. If they’re able to put together a competent offensive line heading into next season that should be able to help take this offense to another level.
This part of the article really shocks me... "Despite an opening in the starting lineup last season and a cult-like fan interest in his success, the Jets “never really considered him an option to start” per Hughes." I find this hard to believe? If Clark isn’t their planned future starter then wtf have they been doing there? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know GVR was only an option in the event of the very worst. I believe the ONLY reason GVR wasn't cut during training camp last year was because Alex Lewis suddenly retired and CAM CLARK suffered the season ending injury. The Jets had no other attractive options. The one thing Van Roten has going for him is that he stays healthy. However, he's a total liability on the field. I believe the Jets were very much hoping Clark would emerge as the starter. Be that as it may, if in fact Clark is moved on from what do you think of drafting Linderbaum to play Center and moving McGovern to RG?
Lineman get hurt when engaged in blocking big defensive lineman. Gvr doesn’t really do that, hence the lack of injuries
I’m so confused. Clark has a cult like following in which fans assumed he was soon to be a penciled in starter?
Same here, where is this cult-like following? It sure isn't on TGG, I post here all the time and forgot Clark even existed.
McGovern was not very good at OG. He'd be better than GVR, but perhaps only marginally. In addition, his contract expires at the end of the season, so they'd only be replacing him next season. That is not the best option imo. In terms of what is best for the OL, the offense, and perhaps the team for the long term, I think the best move would be to sign James Daniels in FA and either draft Linderbaum or one of Ekwonu/Neal at #4. Daniels is only 25-26 and could possibly give us 5-7 yeqars at RG. Assuming that Becton returns and plays at a high level, that would give us 4/5 of our OL and some stability. Then we could draft or sign a C or RT next year to complete our OL. If they draft Linderbaum, they could keep him as depth this year, seek to trade him for a draft pick in 2023, or release him. With either of the latter choices, the Jets would save $9 million on the cap either pre- or post-June 1.
Yeah wtf is Hughes talking about. I agree that’s weird. Most Jets fans probably don’t even know who the guy is
At this point I'd like to ask all beloved members of our Cameron Clark Family to move into the banquet hall for the ceremony. Anyone still doubtful about Cameron Clark can remain outside for a brief Q+A.
You know who this article should have been about? Kenny Yeboah. This guy had a great camp and was a literal star in preseason. I know it was just preseason but he made several impressive catches, including a great TD catch on the last play of the game to get us a tie against the Eagles. He stood out as a stud like a sore thumb. Going into the season many of us had him ranked as the #1 TE, or maybe the #2, for passing situations. Instead he was barely seen and only caught 2 catches on 3 targets for 36 yards. Maybe his blocking wasn't up to MLF's snuff or something, but which TEs was? What do we do with Kenny Yeboah? I still feel like there's more talent to be mined here.
He was a star the way obituaries call anyone ever connected with a professional sports franchise a star. The headlines never say "Four Year Benchwarmer Dies" when talking about a guy who bounced from job to job thirty years ago; they always say "Former NFL, CFL Star Dies."
Hughes isn't completely wrong though. Jets fans do have a little history with bigging up a guy who hasn't played a live snap yet into being a starter and long term answer. Clark is just another of these. A lot of people were hoping he would transition to guard and be an answer, even after he didn't see the field as a rookie. It's a long way from being a fan favourite and having a cult following though and I don't think anyone thought it after the injury. Sounds like he never really had a chance.
Yeah, I'm not sure where Connor sees this "cult-like following" other than maybe Twitter? I think most of us knew exactly what Cam Clark was the second he got drafted in the 4th round. A shot in the dark at adding some talent/depth to the IOL. Dude's got potential and it sounds like he's recovering well from that scary injury in TC but I don't think any of us have ever expected him to be a long-term answer at RG. Can't write someone off after only 2 years (1 of which was ruined by injury) but at this point he's a developmental IOL guy, nothing more IMO.
