Dallas Clark Profile at Pro-Football-Reference

Dallas Clark @ Wikipedia

Steady as he goes

Despite a rough start to his NFL career (busted leg in week 13 vs. the Patriots in 2003), Dallas Clark and Peyton Manning, have built a steady relationship that has gotten stronger every year.  Clark’s targets have gone up for the past six years straight, and has recently become Manning’s favorite red-zone target  (to coincide with Harrison’s decline) catching 15 of Indy’s 39 TDs inside the 20 over the past two years.  With Marvin’s dismissal, Clark should continue to improve his numbers and could even be looking at his first 1,000 yard season.

His game

He runs the 40 yard dash in 4.54 seconds which is among the top five TE’s in the league.  He is a matchup nightmare.  He is too fast for most linebackers, and at 6’3” and 252 lbs he can flatten any defensive back.  He has solid hands and quickness but there is nothing special about his blocking ability – which suits his fantasy owners just fine.   Clark also brings a couple of intangibles to the mix.  He is a smart football player who is adept at finding the soft spot in a zone and,  as already stated, is prolific in the red-zone.   He is just as comfortable going over the middle as he is running a quick-out.

2009 Fantasy Outlook

When you look at Marvin’s stat column over the last two seasons and then look at Dallas’s, it becomes pretty obvious.  As Marv’s stats have declined, Clark’s numbers have risen and he is now Manning’s 2^nd favorite receiving option.

Anthony Gonzalez will have something to say about that heading into his first year as the WR2, but Clark has the established rapport on him.   The only thing that will prevent Clark from achieving his first 1,000 yard season is the injury bug.  Clark is a tough and dedicated pro, but he consistently battles some form of injury and has missed enough games to warrant a yellow flag rating (see below).  His talent is not in question, though, so once Witten, Gonzo, and Gates are gone, snag Clark, because the drop off in TE fantasy talent after that is pretty big.  Pat yourself on the back because you just hooked good value.  Make him the 2nd TE off of draft boards this summer.