ALL TWENTY-TUESDAY: DE NOAH SPENCE

Imagine being a five-star prospect, playing on one of the best college football defenses in over the last decade, going down to lower level competition and continuing to dominate, only to be drafted in the NFL and realize that you’re not as special as you’ve been used to your whole life (at least, not yet).

That’s kind of the situation Spence was in during his rookie year, and because of it, I saw his rookie year come in three different phases. In the first, he relied on what he knew. In his second, he began to see the light come one. In the third, well, in the third he just got fed up (in a good way).

These were the three phases of Spence’s rookie year as I saw them.

Phase I: A Game of Fractions

A very important aspect or trait to being a speed rusher is in dividing your opponent into fractions. What that means is that if you can take a player and only allow him to use half of his weight or half of his length or half of his strength, chances are you can get the best of him. That’s something Noah Spence has been doing for a long time.

The play above is of Spence in 2013 at Ohio State. In the clip, Spence is actually going up against his now teammate Donovan Smith, who was playing left tackle at Penn State in the film above.

Spence has plenty of good tape displaying the fraction technique, this one just happens to be on Smith. If you’ll press play on the tweet (sorry they’re not in GIF form this week. I can’t do that with All-22 and wanted to stay consistent), you’ll see that Spence got around Smith and to the quarterback.

But, watch it again with this fraction thought in mind. When rushing the passer, offensive linemen usually have the greater physical advantage. Depending on the player, offensive tackles can have anywhere from 40 to 60 pounds of weight, mass and strength to their advantage when prohibiting a defender from getting to the quarterback. Knowing that, speed pass rushers never want to take them on right in the middle. Instead, what they’re taught to do is target one of the shoulders of the offensive linemen. If they’re making a speed move around the edge, it’s the outside shoulder, if they’re collapsing back in, it’s the inside shoulder.

Think about it logically. If someone is trying to get by you and they push your shoulder with their force instead of into your chest, what’s going to happen? You’re most likely going to get spun around and they’re going to get by you, even if you’re stronger. That’s the thought process here as well.

When you combine fraction techniques with pass rushing moves like a rip or a swim, they become very effective. That’s why Spence’s college tape looked so dominate. He consistently attacked the shoulders of offensive linemen and won in that regard.

In the NFL, Spence’s technique didn’t get worse, but his competition got better. Click the video and listen to the commentary I have as I walk you through the play below.

From college to the pros, Spence has been technically sound. He’s elite with his shoulder placement, which makes him good at winning with strength and balance, and he’s elite with his hand usage, which allows him to win when it comes to length and extension on a player. Something Spence struggled with during the early parts of the 2016 season was just acclimating to offensive linemen being able to recover to his burst and attacks much quicker. Most of phase one for Spence was recognizing his learning curve.

Phase II: Pressure Production

As we touched on at the end of the first phase to Spence’s season, there was certainly a learning curve for him coming to the NFL. Even with all the tools and all the technique, Spence still had to put it all together at the highest level, and that takes time.

Bucs DE Noah Spence – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A good example in the next step for Spence in 2017 and beyond is just being more decisive in what he’s doing. He was much more of a situational pass rusher in 2016 than we’ll see him in 2017 as more of a full-time player, but in the times he was on the field, you could tell it was more of reps in the tank to get better more than a finished product being flashed. In the early parts of the season, Spence was relying on what got him to the NFL, and even though he was able to get *some* pressure, it wasn’t nearly what he was used to.

The above clip is a good example of that. In it, Spence beat his man, he just didn’t do it quick enough. In the NFL, if you don’t go into your pass rush with a plan – and a mindset of, “I know what I’m gonna do, and it doesn’t matter what you’re gonna do because my best will win” – you won’t have enough time to make a difference before the ball is out of the quarterback’s hand. In college it’s different, Spence played against quarterbacks that would drop back, climb the pocket, wait and get hit. It isn’t like that in the NFL. Rushers have about two or three seconds.

Spence didn’t have that kind of time in the play above. That’s the pressure part, but no production.

However, Spence came back that game and actually did make that adjustment. In almost the same play (from his stand point), Spence was more decisive, and as a a result, more explosive in his movement, and even though he was partially blocked like the play before, got to the quarterback in time to force a bad throw.

Recognizing the importance of speeding up his decisive decision making when pass rushing was phase two for Spence, and something he needs to carry into the 2017 season, as well. He needs to turn his pressures into production. He needs to turn those “just a half a second late” into actual contact. He has the ability and the moves to make it happen, he’s just adjusting to the speed of the game and getting his confidence in his moves as he does that. He already showed signs of accomplishing his phase two as the year went on.

Phase III: Motor

As the year went on, I wouldn’t say Spence grew frustrated, but I think with the part-time play time he was getting mixed with the lack of tackles in the back field he was recording intensified his desire to contribute.

Bucs DE Noah Spence – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In the Bears game in the middle of the season, Spence showed out in a big way by recording a fantastic “effort sack” which brings us to the third phase of his rookie season: playing with a high motor.

I believe there came a time in the middle of the season where Spence realized, “You know what? If I can’t get down the pass rushing moves I want yet, I better just outwork everyone else on the field to make things happen.” And he did.

The clip in the Bears game above is relentless, but it also shows his imperfections. Spence rushes way too far around the pocket, but still has the opportunity to get the sack thanks to Cutler rolling out. Once Spence saw that, he saw his chance and beat Cutler to the line of scrimmage. That’s not a technique thing; that’s not a fractions thing. That’s an effort thing.

Spence once again put that effort on display when he recorded what would be his final sack of the season.

This was my favorite sack of the Spence’s rookie year. In it, Spence gave us a glimpse of his full potential. He got a good jump off the snap which showed his athleticism. He was able to divide his offensive lineman into that fraction by getting to the left tackle’s outside shoulder. He was able to rip his arm up and disengage the blocker, and then worked through the holding penalty to continue towards the quarterback and bring him down. Spence didn’t play for the whistle on this play like he could have. He instead took matters into his own hands. That’s a trait we saw a lot of as the season went on. Spence knew he had to be the hardest worker to make things happen in year one, and he stepped up to the challenge. That’s the hard part. As the pass rush moves come, that effort will be rewarded more and more.

Bucs DE Noah Spence – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Those were the three phases of Spence that I saw when I watched his tape from this season. Early on, we saw the technically sound player who had the talent to win at the college level, but was a bit shook by the speed and strength of the NFL game. The we saw glimpses of what could be as Spence began to adjust to the speed by creating pressures – though still showing room to improve when finishing plays. Then, as the confidence began to build, even if the moves weren’t there, we saw a relentless nature and a want to finish the season strong. Though his stats didn’t say so, there were still impact plays from him in that final month.

The Next Phase(s)

INSTINCTS

So what’s next with Spence? There are certainly parts of his pass rushing game that can be polished, but from the sounds of it, Spence is going to have an expanded, or at least a more diverse, role in the defense in 2017. Here’s why I’m not concerned about that, even though he still has things he needs to work on as a pass rusher.

Mental processing is key for every part of the game. With the NFL moving as fast as it does, even if you have all the physical talent in the world (*cough cough* Trent Richardson), if you can’t process the game in the speed in which it comes at you, you won’t be able to make anything out of it.

Spence processes the game very well for a defensive end, and that’s something we should have expected with how technically sound and productive he was at a young age. In the clip above, Spence was asked to do something outside the box for an edge player. In it, he wasn’t rushing or collapsing the pocket, but instead was aware of the situation around him in a split second to still make an impact on the play. Such instincts to, not just his position, but the game of football are crucial for an expanded position change.

Here’s another example of that.

The play above comes from just knowing the game of football.

Spence knew what kind of play was coming from the moment the offensive linemen moved to the outside. Because of that, and knowing a short throw was coming, Spence just got in the quarterback’s line of sight, and caused the quick hesitation that allowed his teammate to get in for the sack. Again, that’s not a stat Spence will get, but it’s one he deserves.

The next play above is an example of those kinds of instincts in the running game, too. If Spence is going to move to an outside linebacker role, at times, he’s going to have to be as aware and as technically sound as possible since he won’t always have leverage from being the low man out of a three-point stance.

A small ease of that worry can be shown in clips like the one above. Spence knew where to be and how to play against the run. Though he’s not the strongest defensive lineman out there, he does know how to play the run as best he can. The narrative that just because he’s a smaller pass rusher means he’s bad in run supporter is wrong. Spence isn’t an anchor in run support, but he certainly knows what he’s doing in contain. He’s not a guy you want to play in big defensive packages or goal line looks, but he’s not a big liability between the 20s, either.

Bucs DE Noah Spence – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In Hargreaves’ film review, the outlook and prediction for him from Year One to Year Two was much more clear because we know what’s coming. The Buccaneers are going to play him in either outside or nickel cornerback in a Cover 2 scheme, and for him it’s about becoming more technically sound with better anticipation. We saw all of what he was going to play in the first year. It was just about getting better.

For Spence, it’s not so clear, and that’s why his film review was so different. This Buccaneers defense is going to get really creative in 2017, and unfortunately we just won’t know what that looks like until it happens.

I wish I had a plethora of clips to show you from Spence’s rookie season that could somehow show how he’ll be as a stand up linebacker or how he’d look rushing from a 3-4 outside linebacker spot, or even dropping back into coverage, but I don’t – remember, Spence only played outside linebacker on five plays all season.

So, for Spence, all we can do is take the three phases of his rookie production, add in the fact that he has well above average technical and natural instincts for the position and for the game in general, and trust that it’s going to come together in the fashion that Smith devises it to.