The Cardinal Countdown: 92 Days Until Kickoff

#92 Malik Clark

Class: RS Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-2/290

Position: Defensive Line

Hometown: Milledgeville, GA

Twitter: @malikclark_3

Thoughts: If it seems like Malik has been around the program for awhile, well, he has. This tweet from 2016 about sums it up…

Yeah about that whole ‘Grantham’ thing…we deceided that we were actually gonna give you the opportunity to play for Peter Sirmon instead. No…ain’t feeling it? Okay, how about Brian VanGorder? No…alright, fourth time is the charm, meet my man Coach Bryan Brown. For the first time since 2016 the Cards defensive athletes will actually get to experience a defensive mindset, philosophy, plays, etc in back to back seasons. Earth shattering, I know. A player like Malik can take advantage of this change as rumor is he will be shifting over to the middle and likely playing behind Goldwire at the nose tackle position. If you’ve read any of my stuff in the past I’ve talked extensively about how undervalued a solid nose tackle can be when running a 3-4 scheme. The nose tackle is the cornerstone of the front and often acts like a rudder for the linebackers, aiding in their penetration by opening up lanes in either A gap. So one can assume that if the projected starting nose tackle is important, the potential backup is of almost equal significance. While slightly undersized I think Malik has shown the ability to move bodies, fill voids, shed blocks, and make tackles when necessary. Malik was used quite a bit last year appearing in twelve games and was able to snag 11 tackles, including 3 for loss and half a sack (teaming up with my man Kinnaird). While there will be competition at nose having three seasons of college experience can help, and seeing that the staff trusted him enough to play significant minutes last season is a good sign.

Sweet Tweet:

Remember when Gameday came to Louisville and Lamar and the Cards ran all over Florida State, hitting them with the spin cycle, returning punts to the house, winning by like by 80, made Jimbo Fisher cry, and then he kicked cameras out of the locker room, and it started Lamar’s Heisman run….that was awesome.