According to Justin Melo of The Draft Network, the San Francisco 49ers are among the teams that have met virtually with Louisville cornerback Kei'Trel Clark ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft later this month. Clark has also met with the Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, and Las Vegas Raiders.
"Lots of interest in an exciting inside-outside CB prospect," notes Melo.
.@LouisvilleFB CB Kei'Trel Clark is a DOG in coverage. Clark recently met virtually with #Commanders, #Browns, #49ers, #Vikings and #Raiders, to name a few, per source.
Clark also has a Top 30 with #Cardinals. Lots of interest in an exciting inside-outside CB prospect.
— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) April 7, 2023
Clark registered a career-high 51 tackles, four tackles for a loss, a sack, four passes defensed, an interception, and a touchdown through 12 game appearances as a senior in 2022, per Sports Reference. He recorded 167 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, 28 passes defensed, five interceptions, and a touchdown through his four collegiate seasons. In 2021, the defensive back hauled in a team-leading and career-high three interceptions for the Cardinals despite being limited to six starts in eight games due to a torn ACL.
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The 49ers lost defensive backs Emmanuel Moseley (Lions), Jimmie Ward (Texans), and Tarvarius Moore (Packers) in free agency.
Clark is from Richmond, VA. He earned a pre-draft grade of 5.92 from NFL.com, which equates to an "average backup or special-teams player," per the site's 8-point grading scale.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, the 5' 10 1/4" and 181-pound Clark had a 40-time of 4.42 seconds, a vertical jump of 34.5 inches, a broad jump of 122 inches, and a 20-yard shuttle time of 4.21 seconds. His other measurables include an arm length of 29 5/8 inches and hands measuring 8 1/4 inches.
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote the following within his scouting report:
Clark is small but fast. He plays with twitchy feet and a competitive demeanor when challenging the throw. He's capable of stalking short and intermediate routes with a feel for the passing lane, but his lack of size and length shows up down the field. While the ball skills and athletic traits work in his favor, trouble with run support and big slot targets could be difficult obstacles to overcome in the NFL.
| College Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | ||||||||
| 2019 | Liberty | FR | 13 | 36 | 4 | 40 | 4 | 2 | -- | ||||||||
| 2020 | Louisville | SO | 10 | 27 | 9 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2021 | Louisville | SO | 8 | 30 | 10 | 40 | 3.5 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2022 | Louisville | SR | 12 | 35 | 16 | 51 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | 128 | 39 | 167 | 13.5 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||