Snap counts from Seahawks-Rams: Frank Clark plays 31 snaps, for some reason

The snap counts for the Seattle Seahawks’ 17-16 loss to the Los Angeles Rams is really nothing special to look at. Tyler Lockett was on a snap count restriction of sorts given he hadn’t practiced all week with a hamstring issue, so I’m not too bothered on that front. Perhaps there was similar caution with DK Metcalf given his hip issues from earlier in the season. There was some rotation in and out of the lineup involving Phil Haynes and Anthony Bradford at right guard, as well as Jason Peters and Stone Forsythe at right tackle.

Now we get to the defense, which irritated me a bit when I saw the snap counts. Derick Hall wasn’t on the injury report so unless he was also on a snap count restriction, he lost snaps to Frank Clark. There aren’t too many candidates Clark could possibly siphon playing time from, and yet he ended up playing more than either Darrell Taylor or Hall, who had a half-dozen snaps to Clark’s 31.

Hall has played just 17 snaps total over the past two games.

Clark was really good in his first stint with the Seahawks, and I won’t let his current play cloud my view of his contributions to the team before he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. We’re also really close to 2024 and not everyone has got tremendous longevity to play at a high-level.

Last week, Clark played just 17 snaps against the Washington Commanders. In his other two games he had 38 of 76 snaps against the Baltimore Ravens, and 22 versus the Cleveland Browns. What does 108 snaps of Frank Clark in 2023 get you? Close to no productivity.

Losing Uchenna Nwosu has undeniably hurt Seattle’s defensive front both against the pass and the run. Hall hasn’t exactly been a super productive option in his rookie season—0 sacks, 2 QB hits, 5 hurries, 10 tackles, 1 tackle for loss—but he has to be a better option than Clark. These three plays are better than anything Clark has done.

I wasn’t in favor of the Clark signing even on an emergency basis because he looked cooked in Denver and honestly looked cooked at the tail-end of his Kansas City Chiefs career. The Broncos have magically started playing better defense since his (and Randy Gregory’s) departure.

If you feared that the “Pete Carroll plays a fading veteran over a young player” strategy would come to fruition, this appears to be the case with Clark vs. Hall. I can’t take another week of this from a “veteran presence”:

Or this, which was the Devon Witherspoon “DPI” but the freeze frame gives you an idea of how far Clark managed to run himself out of the play and give Stafford the world’s cleanest pocket.

If the Seahawks are going to be on the struggle bus, then I’d rather ride with players who could be good instead of giving snaps to guys who used to be good.