Dan Harms
Mar 10, 2023
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 201
Projected 40 time: 4.40
Strength: Moving in space
Weakness: Contact balance
Electric.
Spears wasn't on my radar, outside of a few blips, before the Senior Bowl. He BLEW UP USC in the Cotton Bowl, but USC's defense is bad so what does that mean? I knew I would get to him eventually, so I put him off. Then I saw him at the Senior Bowl. He bulked up from the regular season and didn't lose a step of his explosive ability. I knew I had to dive into the tape.
It didn't disappoint.
The way he moves in space is elegant. He identifies cutback lanes in zone quickly and can get through in the same amount of time. The field vision is next-level, while he can be hit or miss on arm tackles around the ankles, he breaks tons of them and gets loose. Bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic is where he's best and at any moment he could break one for a touchdown. His hip fluidity allows him to alter tackle angles at the point of attack extremely well and stop and start beautifully.
This guy is fun to watch.
One on one with a defender in the hole. This is where you learn a bit about the player you're watching. Spears gives him a little stop-start action and makes him miss in the hole then breaks another tackle and drags another would-be tackler into the end zone.
Holes are going to close faster in the NFL and the hits will be bigger, but Spears is a guy that falls forward a ton and bulked up in the offseason for the Senior Bowl and kept the weight for the combine. He didn't lose the explosiveness in Mobile, so I think he'll play around 200 pounds.
How well does a back process new information? With an offensive lineman pushed into the backfield, how well do they adapt to the situation? Spears adjusts his rush path seamlessly. He side-steps around the traffic, sees the second-level form, and uses a hesitation juke to manipulate the free defender. Just gets brought down from a great effort play, falling for a couple of yards.
Spears is a natural pass catcher in this class too; has the quick feet and hips to run routes as well. Oh, and did I mention he's a pretty good YAC athlete? This play had me busting up while I watched. The deceleration is insane and then he shows off those hips again, sinks under the defender, and sends him up and over. The re-acceleration is on display from a complete stop, too. He steps out right before scoring, but this highlight is insane.
Turning negative plays into positive yards. Check. Spears does an excellent job not only trusting his blocks to be there, but his own athletic ability to make it happen. Cincy's defense is filling quickly and would have tackled a lot of backs for little to no gain. Spears presses the A gap then bounces this outside around the end to gain five yards. He's an incredibly gifted athlete and pairs good vision and manipulation tactics with those traits.
Manipulating second-level defenders is a skill that makes life MUCH easier, especially at the next level. It's subtle, and quick. Spears is going to press slightly to the right side B gap. Given his 5'10" frame and quickness, the LB loses him in the shuffle and tight-end movement with the split-back zone run. Spears hits the opposite A gap and puts his hand to the closest defender and takes off. Great hustle showed from the opposite field safety to make this tackle too.
He's going to have a few issues breaking NFL tacklers who will square up more often, that's an area he needed to work on, likely why he's a bit more built right now. Then pass protection, he shows the "want to" in his film...
...and the coachability to get better, but the functional strength is a question. All in all, Spears has been an incredibly fun evaluation and study for me this cycle. He didn't run his 40 at the combine, not entirely sure why, but the explosion metrics were elite. His combination of space movement and speed makes him an immediate threat in the NFL. He's the type of back that nearly every NFL team can figure out how to use and excel in their offense. He's not going to be an every-down back, but he can absolutely lead a committee and be on the field for the most valuable touches, running routes included. He's a top-five back in this class.