We've gone down a long rabbit hole but I guess that makes somethings clearer. I wasn't being as specific when I was saying "NT" vs "DE" on the amount of DL playing at the moment or based on the gap he played. I wasn't using the terminology that if the NT moved to gap 2, he suddenly became a DE or if there were 2 DL, he was a DE...
I was looking at it as the NT was a "role" in the defense. With 3 DL, he'd be over center mostly, but with 2 DL, might swing left or right over guard at times. But wouldn't be out on the G-T gap or head on the T, like he could be when playing DE "role".
Now, trying to extract myself from the rabbit hole... 😂. Even when Clark was the starting NT, he had to be flexible and not just play on the center. He had to flex out for pass rush in other gaps. So while his usage has changed some, he still has a good chunk of plays (and most of the obvious pass rush snaps) from the middle of the D-line.
And I think we can both agree he looked much better in game 2 (though ironically the move to DE put him on a rookie G which he demolished often). I'm sure he has been following our discourse all week and we've motivating his play! Congratulations to us! Now we need to keep it up for another 15 weeks! 😂