Defense in the NFL is tougher than ever. With the proliferation of pre-snap motion, audibles, and endless ways to disguise intentions, defenses must be able to diagnose impossibly fast and communicate clearly.
For the Detroit Lions, much of that responsibility falls on the safety group. They have the entire play in front of them, and it’s often on them to get the team into the right looks and coverages. Unfortunately for Detroit, their two starting safeties face uncertain futures. Brian Branch will
likely miss significant time to start the season as he rehabs from a torn Achilles, and Kerby Joseph’s availability is unknown as he continues to battle a chronic knee injury.
But the Lions believe they may have a solution. This offseason, Detroit signed veteran Chuck Clark, who brings 123 games of experience and 80 starts. He’s seen just about every offense thrown at him, and been a part of countless defensive schemes. And just as importantly, he’s got that Detroit grit.
“I love the fact that he’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Lions safeties coach Jim O’Neil said. “This time last year he was sitting on his couch, right? And now he’s here, running with the first group. So that’s one, right? And every rep to him is meaningful. He appreciates being here. I think he is stone-cold serious about football.”
He’s so serious about football that Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said he’s never seen him smile.
But what has kept Clark in this league despite injuries and often being replaced by younger players is his ability to diagnose and communicate. O’Neil says that Clark is in rarified air when it comes to his ability to lead a defense.
“How he can anticipate out on the grass and how quickly he can process and make guys around him better is a quality that’s hard to evaluate unless you have them actually in the building,” O’Neil said. “[…] And there’s not a lot of what I call alpha communicators in the back seven. He’s one of them. He can run the whole show. He can run it all back there. So I’ve been really, really impressed with him, to answer your question. And I think he’ll really, really help us as the season goes on.”
Being an alpha communicator doesn’t just allow the defense to be on the same page at all time. It allows the defense to be multiple. If offense shows one look, Clark can check into another call. If a player goes in motion, Clark will ensure the right switch-offs in coverage are being made. In essence, it can make your defensive play-calling perfect, no matter what the offense throws at you before and after the snap.
“Having smart guys allows Shep to be more creative with his play calling, and it allows Shep to be right more than he’s wrong,” O’Neil said. “Because he can give those guys the flexibility, along with Jack Campbell, to be the alphas in the back end and get us where we need to be in the best position to make plays. But that is huge in today’s football game. You can’t just single play call, line up and play, or, hey, my eyes are here. There’s multiple levels to every call, and there’s multiple things happening before the ball is even snapped.”
Detroit’s defense also had one other major problem Clark could help with: explosive plays. Last year, the Lions gave up 57 passing plays of 20 or more yards, tied for sixth-most in the league. Sheppard has said all offseason that eliminating those was a big offseason focus. Clark’s reliability, communication, and leadership should help with that.
“You talk about explosive plays, well that is the number one component to limiting those, making sure we are all on the same page,” Sheppard said. “And that is something—take ability aside—Chuck Clark on the field is rarely to never a mistake or an enemy with the backend. And that is because everybody knows who is in charge because he makes it known.”
Clark is not going to be handed a starting job, though. He’s been working alongside Christian Izien with the first-team defense all spring, but O’Neill noted that was to ensure he gets caught up with the defense. When training camp comes, he’ll have to compete with the likes of Avonte Maddox, Thomas Harper, and perhaps even Kerby Joseph, who all showed they could ball in 2025.
“We got a lot of guys that have banked a lot of reps in this league, and we got a lot of guys that have a chip on the shoulder because they’re all on one-year deals,” O’Neil said. “So it’s going to be a highly competitive training camp.”
