Was Dallas Clark Worth The Big Contract That He Was Given?

[GoGoColts]

The Colts made him the highest paid tight end and he is a complete non-factor without Manning. I was very critical of his contract when he got it.

[GoColts8818]

Well since some teams were covering him with their number one corner last year at times and he's had a pro-bowl season for us since then and is thought to be one of the best tightends in football I would say yes.

No he isn't having a good season right but what Colts receiver is? They are all missing a very large key to the puzzle. If Manning was healthy Clark would be having another super star year. He's not and the whole offense is struggling, well outside of the running game which is kinda ironic.

[number28]

yes he was

[Bloodknight]

He's been mediocre at best thus far this season. I really hope he starts playing like we all know he can (it's not just the lack of Peyton, he's dropped some very routine passes), and he has not been the same since his injury.

[Jason_]

he's been used a lot more for blocking this year than receiving and he's simply not very good at blocking. I wouldn't put the blame for this on Clark because the Colts knew when they re-signed him that he's not the best blocker but that's largely what we're asking him to do now. Couple that with the inconsistent play from QB and yeah, he's become a non-factor but it's really not his fault.

[Malakai432]

I think Clark is awesome, Kerry Collins was having a tough time getting the ball to anyone. If they start Painter next week he might do more of an adequate job.

[Blue Horseshoe]

I've always thought Manning made him look a lot better than he really is with advantageous play selection and accurate throws. However, he is a perfect fit for this offense. He has excellent hands, is not afraid of contact across the middle, and gets excellent yardage after the catch. I don't like paying top dollar at so many positions but this one doesn't really bother me too much.

[mahagga73]

I've always thought Manning made him look a lot better than he really is with advantageous play selection and accurate throws. However, he is a perfect fit for this offense. He has excellent hands, is not afraid of contact across the middle, and gets excellent yardage after the catch. I don't like paying top dollar at so many positions but this one doesn't really bother me too much.

LOL,did you just say Clark has excellent hands.What games have you been watching?EVen with Peyton it is a 50 50 proposition he catches the ball.HE HAS HORRIBLE HANDS.But when he does actually catch it he has big play ability.Never thought I would hear excellent hands and Dallas Clark in the same sentence.

[Jason_]

LOL,did you just say Clark has excellent hands.What games have you been watching?EVen with Peyton it is a 50 50 proposition he catches the ball.HE HAS HORRIBLE HANDS.But when he does actually catch it he has big play ability.Never thought I would hear excellent hands and Dallas Clark in the same sentence.

Have you watched the Colts play before this year? Clark has among the best hands in the NFL. We haven't seen it this year because of the poor QB play but he's made as many highlight catches as any other TE in the league.

[Malakai432]

Have you watched the Colts play before this year? Clark has among the best hands in the NFL. We haven't seen it this year because of the poor QB play but he's made as many highlight catches as any other TE in the league.

I concur, I have no idea why one would think he has bad hands. In fact I remember in previous games past, the commentators mentioned how good of hands he had, lol.

[mahagga73]

Have you watched the Colts play before this year? Clark has among the best hands in the NFL. We haven't seen it this year because of the poor QB play but he's made as many highlight catches as any other TE in the league.

whatever ,he has dropped more than he's caught.He has poor hands compared to other TE's.watch other games.He has big play ability and questionable hands.Just cause hes caught some great passes does not mean he has good hands.He couldn't catch a cold this year...please

[mahagga73]

I concur, I have no idea why one would think he has bad hands. In fact I remember in previous games past, the commentators mentioned how good of hands he had, lol.

I noticed with the 5 or 6 drops he's had the last 2 games,lol

[Jason_]

I noticed with the 5 or 6 drops he's had the last 2 games,lol

What is it about this whole "new QB who's unfamiliar with the system and has zero timing with the receivers" aren't you getting? Clark is CONSTANTLY praised for his excellent hands and ability to make tough catches.

If you find even one person on this board who agrees with you I'd be impressed...and by impressed I mean shocked. ;)

[John Waylon]

The Colts made him the highest paid tight end and he is a complete non-factor without Manning. I was very critical of his contract when he got it.

yes he was

LOL,did you just say Clark has excellent hands.What games have you been watching?EVen with Peyton it is a 50 50 proposition he catches the ball.HE HAS HORRIBLE HANDS.But when he does actually catch it he has big play ability.Never thought I would hear excellent hands and Dallas Clark in the same sentence.

whatever ,he has dropped more than he's caught.He has poor hands compared to other TE's.watch other games.He has big play ability and questionable hands.Just cause hes caught some great passes does not mean he has good hands.He couldn't catch a cold this year...please

I noticed with the 5 or 6 drops he's had the last 2 games,lol

.... I'm nearly at a loss for words... Did we just decide to make a topic and fill it with as much "stupid" as we can?

I mean seriously... For real?

How did we ever amass such a group of geniuses?

[ruksak]

I love Dallas, great receiver and one of our best players for years now.

He has been terrible this year. Why?

Frustration I think. He's being asked to actually play tight end and its not working out. An excellent route runner with great hands, but he couldn't block my grandma if she was at full sprint. He's getting frustrated and its turned his hands to stone. Did you guys see the animated reaction he threw out when he dropped that last pass? It almost looked like a temper tantrum.

[John Waylon]

Peyton uses Clark. He uses him like a tool. Peyton gets an idea what the defense is going to do, and he tells Clark to do what he feels will best counter what the D is doing. That's why Clark is so effective under Manning. He's Manning ace in the hole. Same goes for Collie. They are Manning's counter for what he thinks the defense is doing.

Now without Manning to do that, both are seeing a significant drop in production because Collins, or Painter or anyone else can't read a defense the way Peyton can before the snap.

[GoGoColts]

One thing that never gets talked about is that Jacob Tamme, drafted in a later round, played about as well as Dallas when Dallas was hurt. My problem with Dallas Clark is that the Colts made him the highest paid tight end when I think that there are a lot of guys in the league who can do about as well and play at league minimum.

[Rich Cannon]

Well since some teams were covering him with their number one corner last year at times and he's had a pro-bowl season for us since then and is thought to be one of the best tightends in football I would say yes.

No he isn't having a good season right but what Colts receiver is? They are all missing a very large key to the puzzle. If Manning was healthy Clark would be having another super star year. He's not and the whole offense is struggling, well outside of the running game which is kinda ironic.

+1

[hawkeyes]

Clark is a beast - if the QB throwing him the ball has timing and accuracy. Clearly Collins is not that guy! Both Clark and Wayne seemed to show their visual disgust for throws not being where they expected them to be. I'm wondering how much this experience is going to throw them off if/when Manning does come back.

[Balzer40]

Clark has been really good, but he has been dropping a lot of passes this yr. maybe he ought to think about putting on some of those sticky gloves.

[Coltfreak188744]

Clark is a beast - if the QB throwing him the ball has timing and accuracy. Clearly Collins is not that guy! Both Clark and Wayne seemed to show their visual disgust for throws not being where they expected them to be. I'm wondering how much this experience is going to throw them off if/when Manning does come back.

Thats a great point! I thought about it too. I'm hoping that its like "riding a bike". Peyton and our boys in blue have chemistry, and it shows. It's like watching Brady with Welker and his core of recievers. An example would be the pass Brady sent to Chad Johnson yesterday that Chad could not reel in...a sure TD. They just dont have the chemistry yet.

Peyton comes back...Reggie, Dallas, Austin, Piere, Joseph....will be humming like a finely tuned machine. Until then, much like the recession, we will all be on hard times!

Go

[husker61]

i said this along time ago, i didn't like giving him that much money. he is a good receiving te that can't block. that's not that much different than tamme. so many people told me he isn't that bad of a blocker. people saying he has bad hands is as ridiculous as the people that said he was a good blocker. most of the colts offensive players are over payed because of manning making them look much better than they really are! i have said this for a long time also, and it is being shown to be right on the money now.

[husker61]

Well since some teams were covering him with their number one corner last year at times and he's had a pro-bowl season for us since then and is thought to be one of the best tightends in football I would say yes.

you are saying other teams put their best cover corner on clark and not wayne??????????

it may have happened on rare occasions, but i don't believe ANY team went into a game saying their top corner was going to be matched up with clarke.

[DILLIGAFER]

whatever ,he has dropped more than he's caught.He has poor hands compared to other TE's.watch other games.He has big play ability and questionable hands.Just cause hes caught some great passes does not mean he has good hands.He couldn't catch a cold this year...please

What? Are you serious? How bout some stats to back up that statement! Manning/Clark have, I think it is an 85% completion percentage.

And you fail to mention he was out with a hand injury last year and into the summer.

This persons post deserves the "dumbest post of the year" award.

[DILLIGAFER]

whatever ,he has dropped more than he's caught.He has poor hands compared to other TE's.watch other games.He has big play ability and questionable hands.Just cause hes caught some great passes does not mean he has good hands.He couldn't catch a cold this year...please

What? Are you serious? How bout some stats to back up that statement! Manning/Clark have, I think it is an 85% completion percentage.

And you fail to mention he was out with a hand injury last year and into the summer.

This persons post deserves the "dumbest post of the year" award.

[Smitto]

Have you watched the Colts play before this year? Clark has among the best hands in the NFL. We haven't seen it this year because of the poor QB play but he's made as many highlight catches as any other TE in the league.

That is so true, Clark may not be a blocker but he is a great receiving TE one of the best in the league... idk why anyone would question the colts resigning him.

[jgstriker]

Two things I am learning about what happens when the Colts are bad.

Homerism is really really annoying

and

When the team isn't winning, the stupid comes out on these boards.

[LUVTHESHOE]

The Colts made him the highest paid tight end and he is a complete non-factor without Manning. I was very critical of his contract when he got it.

remember he was one of the best pass catching tight ends. the contract was'nt for being the best left or right tackle on the team.

[Portage Coltfans]

The Colts made him the highest paid tight end and he is a complete non-factor without Manning. I was very critical of his contract when he got it.

yes, every penny if Manning is healthy. Although, we could've gotten Greg olsen in a trade for a lot cheaper

[Superman]

whatever ,he has dropped more than he's caught.He has poor hands compared to other TE's.watch other games.He has big play ability and questionable hands.Just cause hes caught some great passes does not mean he has good hands.He couldn't catch a cold this year...please

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/te2009

Two years ago, Dallas Clark caught 100 passes and 10 touchdowns. He was thrown at 133 times. That's a catch rate of 75%. That means that even if all 33 of the incomplete passes were drops (which they weren't), he still didn't drop more than he caught. He caught more passes in one season than he would drop in 20 seasons in the NFL.

But don't let those little things called facts get in the way of your otherwise superb argument.

[Superman]

By the way, at 6 years, $36 million, his contract is very manageable, and will continue to be for the remainder of it. He's got three years, about $15 million left, including this season. At no point will Clark's contract be an issue, assuming he stays healthy. He got paid because of what he does as a receiver in the passing game. His production will drop without Manning, but that doesn't mean he's not still one of the best at his position.

[SanAntonioColt]

yes he was

Afraid not.

[GatorColts]

Yes he is that good and worth the money. He is having to block a lot more this season. Its still a timing issue with the QB's, look at what he does with Peyton, it is like clock work. He is a great player and we are lucky to have him in a Colts uniform.

[ColtsHoosiersBB]

He concentrates harder when Manning is throwing him the ball, or Peyton will chew his (Mod Edit) if he drops to many.

[JoKeR]

He just doesn't have the same chemistry with Collins or Painter. And yes earned his pay, he's Manning's safety blanket.

Should we have paid him based on how well he'd play with back up QBs? No because that's ridiculous.

This is all hindsight

[wercolts]

Yes

[TCColtsFan]

Clark is a beast - if the QB throwing him the ball has timing and accuracy. Clearly Collins is not that guy! Both Clark and Wayne seemed to show their visual disgust for throws not being where they expected them to be. I'm wondering how much this experience is going to throw them off if/when Manning does come back.

I think all our recievers and TEs need to re-evaluate what they can do to make this offense work. While I agree that Collins is getting the ball to them late or a little off target, I have seen multiple dropped balls in the last 2 games (I didn't get to watch the Texans game so I can't comment on that one). I have seen Clark drop 3, Wayne has dropped at least 2 I can think of, Garcon has dropped a few. The ball may not have the same spin they are used to catching but they are professionals and they need to learn to adjust. Collins threw some horrible balls last night but his recievers also dropped some routine catches.

[coltfaninnewyork]

the colts skill players look really frustrated,like us life without peyton is tough.Reggie is in a contract year,tough to put up good numbers with painter and collins.Clark is fine,manning is the tonic but not till 2012.

[oldunclemark]

he's been used a lot more for blocking this year than receiving and he's simply not very good at blocking. I wouldn't put the blame for this on Clark because the Colts knew when they re-signed him that he's not the best blocker but that's largely what we're asking him to do now. Couple that with the inconsistent play from QB and yeah, he's become a non-factor but it's really not his fault.

Jason is the winner of this post.

[IndyTrav]

No TE is worth the money Dallas got. That being said, I'm glad he was on our team, and there were times when he was simply irreplaceable, but as it stands now Dallas Clark is a non factor moving forward for this franchise. He was never, and will never be a truly elite TE, he just made the best of fantastic circumstances. He's 32 years old, not physically imposing, oft.injured at a demanding position, and on a team in need of blocking. The writing is on the wall folks. Read it.