As we continue our summer series taking a look at some of Georgia’s key players for the upcoming spring, junior Tyler Clark has made as much, if not more improvement from his first day on campus to now than any defensive lineman on Georgia’s roster.

It’s really been amazing.

The former four-starter performer wasn’t projected to be a major player when he first signed out of Americus-Sumter, but as he approaches his third season is blossoming into a star.

Tyler Clark

Tale of the tape

Height – 6-4

Weight – 300 pounds

Class – Junior

Status – Starting defensive lineman

Stats to date – 2017

Clark enjoyed a breakout season in 2017.

Not only did he start 12 of the 14 games he played, but Clark posted some excellent numbers, making 41 tackles, including six for losses of 21 yards.

Of those six tackles for loss, 2.5 came on sacks for losses of 14.

Two of his biggest games came against Notre Dame and in Georgia’s Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma, where he matched his career high for stops (five), including a sack of Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield.

2016

Clark played in all 13 games, finishing with 21 tackles.

His biggest game came at South Carolina when he made four tackles and was credited with a half a sack.

The four-star prospect was the nation’s 22nd-ranked defensive, tackle according to Rivals, and was considered the 30th-best prospect in the state of Georgia.

Clark also took part in the Offense-Defense Diamonds in the Rough Game.

As suggested in the top of this article, Clark’s Bulldog career has been on a steady rise.

For all the talk Trenton Thompson received heading into last fall, it was Clark who actually outplayed the current Cleveland Brown and, accounted for basically all of the starts many figured would go to the former Bulldog.

It was easy to see why. Clark’s physically at the point of attack and ability to take on double-teams quickly drew favor with position coach Tray Scott, who leaned more and more on the Americus native as the season progressed.

The Sports Management major didn’t let him down, and as the Bulldogs approach the 2018 campaign, Scott will be looking to Clark to take his game up to an even higher plateau this fall.

"Intensity, physicality, he loves toughness, he likes striking people. He is very passionate. As far as competitiveness, he reminds me of myself. He got really upset in the Tennessee game. He was all mad because some guy hit him late. We had to grab him and calm him down. He has intense passion and intense competitiveness and it bothers him when he does not do well. I think that's a good trait for a defensive lineman who has grown.” – Kirby Smart on Tyler Clark

Don’t let Clark fool you.

Off the field, he’s quiet, almost to the point of being shy, but on the field, watch out.

Clark is so competitive that Smart mentioned he even reminds him of himself as a player. He hates to lose, and that’s served as one of his biggest motivators.

Physical and tough-minded, you saw more double-teams on Clark as last season went along, but even then, opposing offensive linemen didn’t have a ton of success.

Pad level, violent hands and leg drive are all areas that Clark excels in.

Like most freshmen, Clark went through his share of growing pains, but in just one year developed into arguably the most dominant defensive lineman on Georgia’s roster.

There are still areas Clark needs to become more consistent in, so that’s the challenge for the upcoming fall.

Little things like hand placement and occasional footwork issues are the only areas we see as possibly needing to improved, but even those are minute.

One can certainly make the argument that Clark was Georgia’s most valuable defensive lineman throughout the Bulldogs’ playoff run and arguably at the top at his position for the Bulldogs all year.

Clark became extremely difficult for opposing offensive linemen to handle one-on-one. Just ask Notre Dame.

In our opinion, Clark—who is having an outstanding offseason, we're told—has the potential to become one of the top defensive linemen in the SEC and will look to use the spring as a jumping off point for what could be an outstanding 2018 campaign.