Isaiah Spiller Scouting Report

High School

Spiller attended Klein Collins High School in Texas where he was ranked the 6th best RB and the 123rd best player in the country by ESPN. 247sports had Spiller ranked as the 12th best RB and the 232nd best player in the country. Both outlets had him ranked as a 4 star recruit. He was named an Under Armor All-American and ranked as First Team All-Texas by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football after compiling 1,493 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. He ended his high school career with 3,587 yards from scrimmage and 53 total touchdowns. Spiller chose Texas A&M over Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa State, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State and TCU.

College

Isaiah Spiller has seen significant playing time since starting his college career with Texas A&M. As a freshman in 2019, Spiller averaged 5.4 yards per carry for 946 yards and 10 TDs and was named to the 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team. In 2020, Spiller averaged 5.5 yards per carry for 1,036 yards and 9 TDs for another productive season where he was named All-SEC First Team and was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award. In his two seasons he has also compiled 49 receptions for 396 yards through the air.

Strengths

Spiller posses elite level elusiveness and burst. He routinely makes defenders miss at the second level through change of direction and head fakes. He does the most damage to the defense when he’s in open field and able to get up to full speed. He has great acceleration and ability to put his foot in the ground and go.

Weaknesses

Spillers only major weakness is his ability to power through defenders at the line of scrimmage. He often gets pushed backwards by bigger defenders and struggles to make extra yards against defensive lineman. This shows up at the goal line on occasion. Once he gets to the second level this weakness is void as he can run through arm tackles of smaller defenders such as LBs and DBs.

Film Score

Vision (4.0) - Spiller displays good vision and can find the hole to get through the line of scrimmage consistently. On this run against Mississippi State Spiller sees the hole opening up back side and is able to bend the run back for a solid gain.

Collisions (3.0) - This is the skill that Spiller could work on the most, but you can't tell from this run against Florida. If he has the space and time to get to the second level he can run through arm tackles and smaller defenders. Here he bounces right off the would be tackler with ease. Where he struggles with power is at the line of scrimmage. He can be taken down somewhat easily by defensive lineman if not given the space to get moving which is in part due to his very upright running style.

Elusiveness (4.5) - Spiller excels in making defenders miss in the open field and in one on one scenarios. Here the blitzing defender has him dead to rights, but Spiller stops on a dime and changes direction, picking up about 8 yards on what should have been a 4 yard loss. He is extremely quick and can stop and start with ease, making defenders look silly in the process.

Explosiveness (5.0) - Spiller has elite level explosiveness and burst. Once he puts his foot in the ground he can reach top speed in a few steps. He does end up getting caught from behind here, but that's after gaining almost 50 yards before he's even touched!

Receiving (4.0) - Spiller has the ability to be a very good receiver out of the back field. He already is sometimes asked to split out wide at Texas A&M, which we all know is a great asset to have at the next level. In this play against Tennessee, Spiller also shows that he has the ability to go up and get a ball that isn't perfectly thrown.

Outlook

Expect Isaiah Spiller to be one of the first backs taken off the board during the 2022 NFL Draft. I expect Spiller to be used heavily in the passing game in the NFL as he has the speed and explosiveness to be very effective in open space. He may not be a touchdown machine as he can struggle to break tackles at the line of scrimmage and goal line, but his ability in the open field to make defenders miss along with his receiving ability make him a great future fantasy back, especially in PPR leagues.