Meet Your Draft Picks: Anthony Spencer
Posted: June 29, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
Anthony Spencer, DE/OLB, Purdue University, 1st round draft pick
Measurables: 6′3â€, 261, 4.71 forty yard dash
Positives: An explosive pass rusher and up-the-field defender. Possesses excellent overall athleticism and top-end speed. Flashes the burst and closing quickness necessary to rush from the outside in the NFL. Has demonstrated good knowledge of technique and play recognition ability, particularly in his 2006 senior season. Great motor, good at backside pursuit, and a fairly strong overall run defender, even against larger blockers. Works well down the line and changes direction well. Has a developing frame with good upper-body muscle tone and room to add at least another 10 pounds of bulk with no loss in quickness. Plays through pain, as evidenced by his 15-tackle performance vs. Notre Dame in 2006 despite a hyper-extended knee. Named Purdue Boilermaker’s Most Valuable Player for 2006 season. First team 2006 All Big-10 selection.
Negatives: As an NFL defensive end, Spencer would be undersized, but he fits the prototypical mold for the 3-4 OLB. Can struggle when going head-up against larger offensive linemen, but possesses enough speed that this should not be expected to be a significant problem. Learning a new position at LB and has only moderate experience dropping into downfield coverage. Rarely used in space. In a strong TE division like the NFC East, may have to be protected in coverage against receiving TEs. Will need to further develop his array of pass rush moves as he progresses in the NFL, but has a solid foundation to work from.
Outlook: Anthony Spencer certainly appears to be the real deal — the ideal specimen for a 3-4 outside pass rusher, displaying excellent speed and strength and a strong production record to back it up. As a pass rusher he can generate instant penetration, both from his natural athletic ability and from his excellent knowledge of technique. He combines proper hand technique with an array of rip-and-swim moves to explosively close on quarterbacks, he can guard his legs versus the chop block while maintaining the angle to close on the ball, and he gets great production when he beating the offensive tackle with quickness and flashing his lateral range to slip in-line.
The guy is a certified pass-rusher, and there is no doubt that he will help the Cowboys when on the field in that capacity. In addition, his motor, his character, and his toughness are all everything you would want in a first-round pick, and he appears to be the type of player who will do what is necessary to continue his development in the NFL.
The only thing you can really come up with on him as far as a potential flag is that his production underwent a sharp increase his senior season. He was slightly dinged up in 2005, limiting him to 3 sacks and 23 tackles. In 2004, his sophomore season, he rang up 7.5 sacks in just 11 starts, but nothing approaching his 10.5 sacks, 26.5 tackles for a loss, and 5 forced fumbles in 2006. So he’s not quite a Mario Williams, whose reputation was made almost entirely in one year, but his senior year was clearly the reason Spencer was taken in the first round. This is really nitpicking, though. Spencer’s production was consistent from game to game when healthy and he clearly has the physical tools necessary to succeed against the next level of competition.
The big thing to watch this summer and fall is his transition from a 3-point defensive end to a 2-point outside linebacker. While Spencer has some coverage experience from his college career, he is still limited in that area, and is not used to working in space. At the moment, this is probably a minor issue, since he will likely be utilized largely as a pass-rusher, with the speedier and more experienced inside linebackers lending a hand in coverage. Even pass-rushing LBs need to cover occasionally, however (Shawne Merriman, for instance, excels as a pass rusher but is also an underrated cover LB), and eventually Spencer will probably find himself in the flat with a receiving fullback or running an outside curl with Matt Schobel or Chris Cooley. Spencer probably has the athletic ability to succeed in these roles down the line, but right now it will certainly be the rawest area of his game.
Spencer continues the tradition of Purdue defensive ends that have made the leap to the pro level, following in the footsteps of Roosevelt Colvin, Shaun Phillips, Ray Edwards, Chike Okeafor, and Dallas’ very own Akin Ayodele.
Below is a highlight reel on Spencer from his senior year – tough to see much, but it includes a couple big hits, and if you look closely, you can see that it is actually Spencer himself who blocks one of those kicks towards the end.
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Roid man is NOT a good cover LB. Don’t know what he was looking at but I have seen him get toasted on several occasions by RBs and TEs. One of the reasons they have him almost exclusively rushing the QB.
Burmafrd,
That’s why anecdotal analysis seldom tells the whole story– because it’s a 2 or 3 play sample set. Most places I’ve seen him graded out, Merriman is pretty decent in coverage when asked to do it. It may be that he’s not tested very often (I doubt they’re putting him on Tony Gonzalez), but I don’t think our bias towards Ware and distaste for Merriman should lead us into the trap of “all he can do is pass rush!”.
ROID man had a coach who was smart enough to let a guy who can rush the passer do exactly that. Our staff is the ones that thought Demarcus would be great dropping back????
Wade won’t let that happen this year and he has already said he will move Ware around.
Sorry, the Merriman reference seems to have been distracting– the point here was intended to be that we should be excited about our new OLB, because evreything indicates he was made to be a pass-rushing outsider ‘backer in a 3-4 defense. That or a DE in a 1 gap Tampa 2 scheme, but that doesn’t so much concern us.
I read a clip somewhere that not showed Spencer’s forty time between 4.63- 4.68, but it was better than Merriman’s and one other top pass rusher. I think it wont be long before Spencer is as good or better pass rusher than Ware and thats taking nothing from Ware. I hope this is the case then their will be no need to flop and our opponents can choose their poison.
Most of the places I have read about roidman say he is at best middle of the pack in coverage and is toast with any one really good. Which makes sense. Bottom line is that he is not someone you want doing that, even if he was lousy at rushing the passer.
I think that when the Cowboys picked-up Spencer they made the correct move. Spencer provides insurance if Ellis cannot recover or is released later on. I think the key to this season on defense is Hamlin or whoever plays alongside him.
Rottn, i agree. i think this defense would be REDICULOUS if they have a cover safety. but thats just my opinion.. which is why i pushed so hard for merriweather
Casual
Yeah, Merriweather would have been a good addition, but I still wouldn’t trust a rookie watching Roy’s back. I think it takes a season or two too get used to the speed and savy of receivers in the league. Unless your
jersey number is 21 and last name is Sanders.
The biggest question I have with Spencer is whether he has more than one pass-rushing move. All the clips I’ve seen of him either have him unblocked to the QB (no contest there) or using a quick first step to get his shoulder past the outside of the tackle. Not going to happen in the NFL, at least not if that’s the only thing he can do. Has anyone seen video evidence that he has other moves in his arsenal?
Merriweather has been having problems with his shoulder. Burmafrd, I think your expectations of what a good cover OLB in the 3-4 is a little high. These guys are rushers first. The idea of the 3-4 is to rush 4 but for the offense to not know if the 4th guy is coming from the left or right. When you can bring pressure hard from both sides you dictate to the offense, unlike last year where the offense dictated to us. All defenses have strengths and weaknesses.
Great point Great White. I wondered that same thing. I’ve seen a couple of highlight reels and it seems like most of his sacks or TFL’s were when he came unblocked. At the beginning of the year you’re probably going to see the coaching staff move him around a lot trying to exploit matchups while he gets used to rushing the passer and works on his pass rushing moves.
regardless of blocked or unblocked he was a tackling machine from the DE spot.
That says a lot about the guy, and teams had to be game planning for him he was their all everything guy on DEFENSE.
I just like the fact that we have a talented pool of LBs, perhaps as good as any in the league running a 3-4. Miami’s Bookends of Taylor and Porter look pretty good for now but they are both a long way away from their birth certificate
the beautiful thing about our D……..we are young…..Ellis is the only guy long in the tooth…..oh and we already drafted his replacement.
Burnett, Carpenter, Ayodele, James, Ware, Spencer and hopefully a Healthy Ellis…….Bobby seems to be able to play inside or out……Burnett looks like a better fit for Wade inside……..I would not be surprised to see James or Ayodele get some snaps at OLB also…….not a lot but if BC and KB are taking inside snaps and Ellis is getting rotation with Ware and Spencer.
I think Bill tried James at OLB and he was better inside but Wade seems a lot more flexible about things.
Still our LB corp looks good, young, and willing to learn the Phillips 3-4.
Add in our secondary and Phillips and Stewart are licking their chops to coach these guys.
I think that the area the Boys most needed to improve from last season was pash rush, so drafting Spencer made the most sense as a complementary OLB to Ware. As Jon B points out, with so many quality players there, it reminds of the 90’s Cowboys who kept rotating that defensive line and the players stayed fresh through the game; I see the same potential with linebackers this year, and it’s a formula for success IMO.
I also agree with Rottn that a rookie safety wouldn’t have been able to contribute as much this coming season to improving the team.
Umm Raf or Raul I think I may have clicked the wrong link. I just donated $15. My intention was to donate for camp coverage but I clicked the regular PayPal link so I’m not sure if I did that right or not. I didn’t see the special camp donation link until after I did it the other way. Hope it will be ok.
For the record I do intend to make a contribution to the blog itself, I just need to wait a couple months. Love the site and when I make it big I’ll put you all on salary, but for the time being the wife is a stay at home mom and we’ve got two small children (girl 3.5, boy 2 and he sleeps with a football!) Anyway, I appreciate the time and effort that you all (including jeff) put into the site. It is great.
Ware is something special that was held back some by parcells man on man D.You will all see this year.On the few occasions that he was turned loose after the qb he put heat on.
Spencer is going to be something special also,he is a Merriman clone with more speed,and will be able to cover better IMO than Merriman.This is going to be a top 5 defense.
Spencer is actually more of a Shaun Phillips clone, only a little faster. Both Spencer and Phillips lack the leg strength that Merriman, Ware and Adalius Thomas have (all three have verticals over 38 inches and broad jumps over 10 feet, while Spencer and Phillips are at about 33 inches and 9 1/2 feet).
What is fun about watching some of the Spencer clips is his play recognition, as mentioned above. There is one clip against the Irish where he keeps his head up on a goalline sweep left and is able to not only get to Darius Walker, but strip the ball as well, all before Walker crosses the line.
It reminds me of a preseason game against the New Orleans Saints where the Saints were running a counter right (I think) with Reggie Bush and DeMarcus Ware came from the left side to catch Bush from behind. Ware has some freakish speed and was able to see the play develop before committing. I think this is something that Merriman lacks. Of course, it doesn’t matter much considering that Merriman’s job is simply getting to the quarterback. And he is pretty good at it.
Look at Spencer’s stats and his highlights and you’ll see another promising skill — the guy causes fumbles. Lots of them. He must have powerful hands and the timing to jab at and jar footballs loose.
I’m looking forward to seeing the ball on the ground when Spencer gets near QBs and RBs.
More turnovers is certainly of the good. BUT if you give up a big play for every turnover that is not a real improvement. That is one of the things the mediots forget when praising D Hall for his big plays: he gives up at least a TD or long bomb for every INT he gets, sometimes more, and that is NOT as good as a quiet guy like Newman who does not give up big plays and makes few INTs. Our D will be gambling more- BUT we need to be good enough so that we are getting turnovers more often then we are giving up big plays.
Can we stop trying to pull down Merriman in order to prop up Ware?
Merriman is one of the top three Defensive players in the NFL as it stands right now.
Lets see what Mr Ware can do this year. I think he is going to be the DPOY.
I wouldn’t be suprised by seeing Ayodele at OLB; he’s even had a sack playing DE last year. I would be suprised by seeing James at OLB.
Merriman is NOT one of the three top players in the NFL. There are others worthy of that spot- and I am not talking Ware. Top 10 for Merriman- yes. Maybe NEAR top 5. Merriman got pretty much stopped on more then a few games. And at critical times as well. He was pretty much invisible in the Chargers loss to the Pats.
Burmafrd,
The guy had sacks in 9 out of his 12 games last year, and had multiple sacks in 5 of them. 2 of the 3 games he did NOT get sacks were against KC, a team that ran the ball 40 or more times. Project to 16 games, his 17 sacks would tie for the league record with Michael Strahan.
Shawne Merriman is an amazing defensive player. It’s okay to admit it.
Also, I’d agree that Spencer is closer to Shaun Phillips than Merriman, and not just because of his alma matter. Hopefully Wade can do similar things with Spencer as he did with Phillips.
burmafrd,
I said top three Defensive player.
If you can name three to five defensive players who impact a game like Merriman did last season, I’m all ears…
Who is out there? Peppers? He has the steroid taint as well, AND he just plain takes plays off.
Champ Bailey? Jason Taylor? Okay.
But then who else? Ed Reed? Maybe but
you can easily put Merriman into a top three discussion. Can’t do that with Ware yet.
He will bust this year tho.. DWare DPOY.