NFL Draft review: Bud Clark and his fit with the Seattle Seahawks defense

Mike Macdonald looks for players who are athletic, have high character, can be leaders on the field and in the locker room, and have high football IQ. If you were to look at Clark’s collegiate career, it would be clear that he fits the bill. With a Relative Athletic Score of 9.45 as a defensive back (strong Safety, free safety, cornerback), he has the athleticism that Mike is looking for. With a 4.41-second 40 yard dash time, a 38” vertical jump, and a 10’7” broad jump, he showed up and showed out at the combine putting in above average to elite metrics in all three areas.

A 3-time team captain, Clark was well respected by his peers. In his final two seasons, he made Second-Team All-Big 12. He did whatever was ask of him in the secondary, taking reps as a deep safety, in the box, and in the slot. Being a versatile defensive back seems to be something Mike prefers, and Clark martches the criteria. Perfect examples are Coby Bryant and Nick Emmanwori. Bryant was a former cornerback in college who eventually turned safety with the Seahawks and flourished under Mike. Nick Emmanwori has played just about every defensive position on the Seahawks, mostly seen as a big nickel corner but has also played some outside linebacker, cornerback, edge, and both safety positions. If you are a player with positional versatility, you will likely fit in with the Seahawks and catch the Super Bowl champion head coach’s eye.

A self-described “ball hawk”, he showed by example how to play on the field. As Dane Brugler wrote in The Beast, Clark “looks like a wide receiver when comfortably adjusting to the football mid-air.”

In his final four years, he accumulated 15 interceptions, two of which he took back for a touchdown, as well as 21 pass breakups. He was not just a ball hawk, though. Clark was willing to get his hands dirty, averaging 86 total tackles per season at TCU, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. He also has a blocked PAT for good measure. As Emory Hunt wrote in his Draft Guide, “Terrific acceleration to the ball when tasked with getting downhill in the run game or applying pressure on the QB.”

A safety who has a nose for the ball, a willing tackler, and a multi-year team captain? Sounds an awful a lot like an Earl Thomas coded safety. If you were to go off his combine testing, Pro Football Network compares him to L’Jarius Sneed. The versatility to play both safety and corner though is more like Coby Bryant, whose position Clark will be competing to fill with Ty Okada, who was Bryant’s backup and played for him when Bryant was injured. Okada himself has played both strong safety (2024) and free safety (2025), giving him positional flexibility as well, continuing the theme of Mike liking his secondary players to be able to play multiple positions.

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At the Senior Bowl, Clark shined, and is likely where he caught the Seahawks attention. Per reports noted on Pro Football Network, he was the best safety there. As noted, “In off-man and press-man 1-on-1s, Clark acquitted himself better than most at his position, matching WRs with active feet and snappy lateral corrections, keeping depth discipline, and prying through the cage with his length to disrupt passes.” Built like a cornerback while playing safety, and being able to stick to receivers like gorilla glue, Clark definitely will be a chess piece that Mike will move all over his board. He plays with instincts, very Earl-esque, seemingly knowing where the ball is going and shooting off like a bullet towards it’s intended target to deflect it if not intercept it. As his head coach at TCU Sonny Dykes described him in the video above,

“Some football players just have a sense of where the ball is going, and Bud is one of those guys. You either kind of have it or you don’t. Part of that is film study, and part of that is putting the time in, and doing all the things you have to do to improve that.”

Through this look into Clark, it seems like he is definitely a Seahawk. He has a chance to compete and beat Okada to fill the shoes of Bryant. Even if he doesn’t, I am sure Mike will find a way to get Clark in certain packages. Clark is too talented of a player to keep on the bench. He will find his way out onto the football field on game days this upcoming season and beyond.