INDIANAPOLIS – Bunk at the house of the Indianapolis Colts’ 6-5, 311-pound long-term hope at right tackle and you’ll sleep on top of Le’Raven Clark’s passion. He’s built every bed frame in the place. Heck, he’s built all the furniture in the place. All with his bare hands.

“Except for the sofa,” the soft-spoken 24-year-old clarifies. Then he laughs.

That laugh tells you something. Clark is strikingly more at ease this year, less deer-in-the-headlights, more I-belong-with-these-guys. Good. Because the Colts need him.

Those around the league vow a player’s most vital offseason is between his first and second seasons. Clark is fresh off his. Twelve months ago, he was treading water, trying to learn how to play with his hand in the dirt, trying to absorb the complexities of an NFL playbook. Now he’s whooping defensive linemen in one-on-one drills, playing faster, playing with more power, playing with more confidence.

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He’s also, for the time being, the man to beat at right tackle.

“Last year, there was a lot going on at once, (and it was) a little intimidating,” he admits.

Less so now. “I want to be contributing,” Clark says without hesitation. “I want to be helping this team.”

The third-round pick arrived in Indianapolis last spring, a raw but ambitious project of an offensive tackle, with go-go-Gadget arms that ex-General Manager Ryan Grigson raved about. He started all 51 games of his Texas Tech career, but never played in a three-point stance; the Red Raiders’ vaunted Air-Raid attack lined up almost exclusively in the shotgun. Clark stood up before every snap.

To succeed in the NFL, Clark needed to get in the dirt. He needed to learn.

So for the first three months of the season, he watched. The Colts kept Clark inactive on Sundays, mindful that he wasn’t ready for live bullets. Seventh-round picks played. Undrafted linemen played. Clark didn’t. He’d spend practices drilling with assistant offensive line coach Joe Gilbert off to the side. He’d spend game days in shorts.

He wasn’t ready.

Then came Jack Mewhort’s knee injury in early December, and with it, Clark’s abrupt NFL debut. And — surprise! — he impressed. Who knew? The project could play.

In 201 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, Clark allowed a single hit and a single sack. Not bad.

His three starts were enough to lend hope for the future. Now he finds himself amidst his second training camp, looking and sounding and playing a whole lot different.

“What you don’t want to see is guys starting to plateau or stop progressing,” said Colts offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. “(Le’Raven) has improved in the areas you’d expect him to improve in. He understands the tempo and the pace and the playbook.”

Couple that with Clark’s greatest attribute — his athleticism — and he very well could find himself in the starting lineup come Week 1, and perhaps beyond. The tackle position requires speed in space, and Clark has it. He’s surprisingly mobile for a man that stands 6-5 and weighs over 300 pounds. Need proof? Check the video Clark posted days before camp commenced. He leaps from the grass and into the bed of a pickup truck with ease.

Anything to win a bet.

“My cousin’s doing yard work, and he still thinks he’s more athletic than me,” Clark says. So the cousin bet Clark he couldn’t hop into the bed of the truck on his first try. Clark proved him wrong.

Asked if he held any reservations — spraining an ankle days before camp starts isn’t a good way to earn a job – and Clark demurs.

“I was pretty confident,” he says. “Took me one try.”

With his family more than 1,000 miles away during the season, Clark’s poured himself into his favorite nonfootball hobby in Indy. He builds. Bed frames. Tables. Nightstands. Anything, really.

“Just gets me away,” he explains. “Keeps me out of trouble off the field, and it’s something I’ve always had a passion for.”

He built a treehouse when he was nine years old to escape his five older sisters; by college, he was gifting teammates pieces of furniture. His place in Indy is furnished with his hard work — as of this summer, all four beds were crafted by hand. When Christmas rolls around, Clark likes to point out, there’s no need to go to the mall.

His stress-test for his works is an easy one: He sits his 311-pound frame on the chair, bed frame or table and gauges its strength. If it can hold him, it can hold just about anybody else.

“God gave you a gift, and hands to create with,” Clark says. “That’s just how I see it.”

The furniture-building remains on hold during training camp. Clark is busy trying to prove to the coaches his three starts from last season were no fluke. He’s got a 34-year-old running back to open up lanes for, and — eventually — a star quarterback coming off shoulder surgery to protect.

He’s got an edge to set, a job to lock down, a career to build.

Call IndyStar reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134. Follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.