With a need at the safety position following the trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins, the Pittsburgh Steelers added a veteran presence Friday who brings some versatility to the table.
That would be Chuck Clark, who the Steelers know pretty well dating back to his days in Baltimore.
At 30 years old, Clark is on the older side of his NFL career, but he brings nearly 5,000 career snaps in the NFL to the Steelers and helps shore up the depth chart at the position of need.
Last season with the Jets, Clark played 702 snaps and split it relatively evenly between free safety and box safety, recording 347 snaps at free safety and 272 snaps in the box. In his career, those splits look like this:
FS: 1,871
Box: 1,750
Slot: 672
Chuck Clark is a good signing at this point in the summer for the #Steelers.
Tons of experience. Can play in the box, deep safety and slot snaps.
1,750 snaps on the box, 1,871 snaps at FS, and 672 snaps in the slot in his career.
— Josh Carney (@ByJoshCarney) July 25, 2025
As you can see, there’s a good amount of experience all over the field. That bodes well for the Steelers, who have made it a point of emphasis this offseason to add players with versatility on both sides of the football.
Clark brings that to the table. Versatility is just one piece of his game, though. He’s also a sure tackler who brings some physicality and is a good communicator, having worn the green dot at times in Baltimore. Last season in New York, Clark missed just eight tackles, good for an 11.1% missed tackles rate. For his career, he has an 8.8% missed tackles rate, which is an outstanding number.
With all that said, let’s dive into the tape and see what the Steelers are getting with Clark at this point in his career, looking at his tape from last season in New York.
Wearing the No. 36 last season for the Jets, Clark was often tasked with playing downhill, spending a good deal of time in the box as an extra linebacker of sorts.
He was solid against the run, grading out at a 70.5 overall in that department from Pro Football Focus. Clark plays with good eyes and stays square to the line of scrimmage when defending the run. He’s not going to run himself out of position in these situations.
Great job here of staying square, taking on the wide receiver blocking down, and making the run stop.
In the box, Clark was an effective blitzer, too. Here against the New England Patriots, Clark was able to disguise his blitz long enough to get himself free off the edge, racing home for the sack of Jacoby Brissett.
Though Brissett did get this ball off on the clip, officials blew the play dead and credited Clark with the sack, which was his lone sack of the season. Much like he did in the previous clip, Clark has the ability to stay square, take good angles, and when he gets his hands on the ball carrier, he’s getting the guy on the ground.
Clark is a very smart player overall, one that reads plays quickly and triggers downhill against the run.
The veteran is positionally sound, doesn’t run himself into trouble and consistently finishes reps.
Great play here by Clark, too. He was able to get in on the tackle of Patriots’ running back Rhamondre Stevenson and rip the ball away in the process for the forced fumble and the fumble recovery. Impressive stuff from the veteran.
Watch the way Clark closes ground here against the Denver Broncos last season. In run support, he’s so solid. It shows up time and time again on tape.
He stays square the entire time, puts himself in great position to guard against both gaps, and is there to clean up the play in the end.
Look at the technique he plays with at the point of contact, too. Fundamentally sound player, especially as a tackler. The career numbers bear that out, too.
In coverage, Clark has some decent numbers overall. Last season, he was charged with 12 receptions on 20 targets for 113 yards. However, he allowed four touchdowns and had just one pass breakup. In his career, he’s allowed 141 receptions on 207 targets for 1,473 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has five interceptions and 17 pass breakups in his career, according to Pro Football Focus.
At this stage of career, Clark is more often tasked with handling tight ends in coverage, rather than turning and running downfield in deep coverage. When he’s around the line of scrimmage against tight ends, he’s going to give up receptions, but he’ll get the tight end on the ground quickly.
Again, you can see how smart Clark is as a defender, especially in the clips against the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts. Misdirection plays don’t really phase him. He’s able to read and react quickly.
You’ll notice, too, that he takes great angles to the tight ends in space and gets them on the ground quickly and cleanly. That’s a major strength to his game. You really can’t underestimate the ability to get to the ball carrier quickly and efficiently, and then finish the play.
Where Clark struggles at this point in coverage is when he has to turn and run vertically in a single-high role, or when he has to get to the sideline down the field in two-high coverage. He doesn’t have the foot speed to close like he did as a younger player.
That torn ACL in 2023 could be affecting him in that regard.
The Jets did a good job of trying to keep him out of these situations last season. They knew his strengths and weaknesses, and they schemed it up well to keep him from having to do this often. But when he was in those situations, teams took advantage.
The backpedal here from Clark is smooth, but he’s just a tick hesitant turning and opening it up. Once he realizes what is happening, he doesn’t have the long speed to close the gap and can’t help over the top as the Titans found the end zone on the deep shot.
Where Clark fits best in Pittsburgh is as the backup to DeShon Elliott as that box safety. He can play free safety in a pinch and could even handle some slot/big nickel work, too. At this point in the summer, it’s a good signing for the Steelers. He shores up depth and adds an experienced piece that the team is familiar with.
He also has some special teams experience, too, though he played just nine special teams snaps last year in New York. As a depth piece, he could strengthen coordinator Danny Smith’s units this season, while providing comfort from a depth perspective at both safety positions.
