Cover 3 is a weekly feature column written by PewterReport.com’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat writer Trevor Sikkema published every Tuesday. The column, as its name suggests, comes in three phases: a statistical observation, an in-depth film breakdown, and a “this or that” segment where the writer asks the reader to chose between two options.
SIKKEMA’S STAT OF THE WEEK
There’s a song by the artist Future called “Used to This” that goes, “Beat the odds, do numbers and remain humble.”
That’s the story of Bucs defensive end Noah Spence.
Spence was once a prized recruit out of high school. He was a unanimous five-star player whether it was with ESPN, Rivals or 24/7 Sports. Spence was either the top or at least the No. 2 player at his position in the 2012 recruiting class across all sites. He ended up deciding to take his talents to Ohio State.
In his true freshman season, Spence played in 11 of the team’s 12 games, and would’ve played in the one he missed had it not been for an injury. As a true sophomore, Spence was a full-time starter – quite a feat for such a prestigious university. He recorded eight sacks during that season and 14.5 tackles for loss, all while just 19 years old.
But as his performance on the field shined, his time as a Buckeye would soon fade dim. At the 2013 Big Ten Championship game, Spence failed his first drug test where he lied to his coaches and family members about knowing how he failed it. After being suspended for three games, Spence went on to fail another drug test in 2014, testing positive for Ecstasy. The second suspension not only kicked him out of Ohio State, but he was also told that he was also permanently banned from the Big Ten as a whole, just days before his team would go on to win the Big Ten title and eventually the national championship.
DE Noah Spence – Photo courtesy of EKU
Not many players come back from that. The odds are against them.
“I had tears in my eyes,” Spence said. “I forced myself to watch it (the national championship). The whole thing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I messed it all up.”
Through the help of his former head coach, Urban Meyer, Spence was able to enroll at Eastern Kentucky University. It was there that Spence found his shot a redemption in the game a football, a shot that he himself admitted he didn’t think he would ever get again. At EKU, in 2015, Spence recorded 11.5 sacks with 22.5 tackles for loss. Because of his impressive statistical accumulation, and the fact that he had been clean of all drug tests since his ban from the Big Ten, Spence was invited to the Senior Bowl where he put on an incredible performance in front of all 32 NFL teams.
As the NFL Draft came, Spence didn’t have to stare at his TV and watch his dreams pass before him like he did for the Buckeye’s national championship. Instead, he was able to watch his name come across the screen and hear the commissioner call his name as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
“[The one thing I’ve learned] Stay humble, and keep God first through it all.”
-Noah Spence
Background is important. To truly predict where players, or even people in general, are going to go or the ceiling they have, you first have to understand where they’ve been. That’s the story of where Spence has been as a person. When you hear something like that, maybe it’s not as “unbelievable” as you once thought that this kid played half his rookie season in Tampa Bay with a torn labrum, including his shoulder popping out of place in the team’s last game – he’s tough as nails; he has to be.
But, what about as a prospect turned into a player? What about that background? There’s been tons of talk about defensive versatility, defensive schemes, defensive fronts, all that jazz. But, no matter which of those we’ve been talking about, one constant, or one name, seems to always come up. That name is Noah Spence.
Spence is a key part of this team because what the defense can get out of him will have a big say in what they can do overall as a unit. So, how versatile is Spence really? Can he play on both sides of the line? Has he? What about interchanging his positions from defensive end to linebacker like Buccaneers defensive coordinator Mike Smith has mentioned? Has Spence done that?
Let’s take a look.
| Pos. | Opp. (OSU) | Opp. (OSU) | Opp. (EKU) | Opp. (EKU) |
| Penn St. | Michigan St. | Kentucky | N.C. St. |
| LDE | 58.3% | 42.9% | 40.3% | 22.2% |
| RDE | 35.4% | 33.9% | 40.3% | 59.3% |
| DE Total | 93.7% | 76.8% | 80.6% | 81.5% |
| LOLB | 2.1% | 14.3% | 9.1% | 0.0% |
| ROLB | 4.2% | 8.9% | 10.3% | 18.5% |
| OLB Total | 6.3 | 23.2% | 19.4% | 18.5% |
So, the short answer is, “yes”. Spence has played a good amount of stand-up linebacker in both of the programs he played college ball with – on some recruiting sites Spence was even labeled an outside linebacker.
Spence also is not bound to one side of the field, as we’ll see with his rookie chart in just a second. He has no problem going from one side of the field to the other, or taking on either right or left tackles. He’s athletic enough to play on both sides of the line, and his film lines up with these charted statistics.
Now, let’s look at where Spence lined up during his rookie season with the Buccaneers and see if we see a pattern.
(via Pro Football Focus)
Unfortunately, I didn’t get my hands on the PFF pro chart until after I had watched and charted all of Spence’s college games myself, so forgive me if the positions are a bit different. In PFF’s chart, “LEO” and “REO” (left and right) simply mean a 4-3 defensive end that is lined up in a wide-9 position, which is the position that speed pass rusher take far outside of the trenches.
The screenshot above is an example of both of the defensive ends playing in the wide-9 position. I just wanted to provide that because even if I think I explain something in simple terms, it’s always nice to have a visual. In the play above, Spence is on your right (defense’s left). See how he’s far away from the offensive tackle? If you remember the defensive alignment numbers from last week that go from 0-tech (right over the head of the center) all the way to the 9-tech (where Spence is), that’s why they call it “wide-9.” It’s still technically a 4-3 defensive end, but now hopefully you’re starting to see that more goes into a position than just the name.
So, that’s the position Spence was in the most during his first year in the NFL. Though I didn’t chart my college notes of Spence the same way, he was very often in the same position at Ohio State that he was in with the Buccaneers. If you watch his tape from 2013, his alignment is very similar. There are some similarities in his Eastern Kentucky tape as well, after all, they wanted to get the most out of him as a speed rusher, too. However, they also needed Spence’s raw talent in run support, so he played more 4-3, 5-tech at EKU.
In conclusion, by the numbers, Spence can play anywhere. There is nothing in his college tape that suggests he wouldn’t be open to, both in mindset and in talent, having an interchangeable position much like he did at Ohio State as the team’s premiere speed rusher standing up or with his hand in the ground.
Does his film agree? click the next page to find out.
