Tyjae Spears, RB Tulane: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Spears was a three-star recruit from Ponchatoula High School in Ponchatoula, La. in the class of 2019

Tulane running back Tyjae Spears is turning heads on the pre-draft circuit. The redshirt junior is trending toward being a top 100 selection in the 2023 NFL Draft following a breakout year where he was the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

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Tyjae Spears, RB Tulane: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior running back from Ponchatoula, La.

Background: Spears was a three-star recruit from Ponchatoula High School in Ponchatoula, La. in the class of 2019. He was the No. 1,347 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,370 for On3.com. Spears was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and did not receive a star ranking or grade out of 100 from ESPN. As a high school senior, Spears amassed 920 rushing yards and 880 receiving yards along with 18 total touchdowns. He helped Ponchatoula to a 10-3 overall record.

Injuries & Off-Field: Missed significant time as a high school freshman, suffered a torn ACL in 2020 missing nine games

Awards: 2022 First-Team All-American Athletic Conference, 2022 American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year

Pros: Patiently waits for blockers to establish positioning, vision, finds cutbacks lanes and open space, acceleration through small gaps, speed to erase angles, initial burst helps him erase angles, terrific stop-start acceleration, good open field speed to break long runs, makes defenders miss in a phone booth, fluid lower body with flexible ankles, high-end agility and lateral bounce, hesitations and jump cuts for days, twitchy, ankle breaker, exceptional footwork and foot speed, uses his size to his advantage by dipping under tackle attempts, slips through small gaps, steps out of arm tackles, willing to finish forward with a head of steam, lowers pad level at the point of contact, good contact balance for his size, received some touches in the Wildcat, massive YAC threat, some impressive catches on tape, instances of properly identifying and slowing rushers in pass pro

Cons: Very little special teams experience, small frame, limited body of work as a pass catcher, ball tracking and concentration at the catch point are works in progress, underdeveloped route running, two drops in 2022, two fumbles in 2022, lacks the bulk and technique to offer much in pass protection, awareness and aggression in pass pro are inconsistent, not going to break many tackles with power, hits in the backfield will be hard to overcome, might be too focused on bouncing outside, doesn’t always have the speed to hit the home run

Overview: Spears took official measurements at the NFL Combine. He’s 5095 and weighs 201 lbs. He has ten-inch hands and 30 6/8-inch arms. Spears had a 74-inch wingspan at the Senior Bowl. There were several impressive running backs at the Senior Bowl, including Chase Brown, Evan Hull, and Kenny McIntosh. Spears performed better than all of them across the three practice sessions. Despite his limited size, the Tulane star produced more than 1,000 rushing yards after contact in 2022. Spears patiently waits for blockers to establish positioning or runs defenders into his blockers in space. He displays excellent vision to find cutbacks lanes and open space. The redshirt junior accelerates through small gaps and has the speed and initial burst to erase angles. He also has the speed to break long runs and generate game-changing plays. Spears is a twitchy athlete with terrific stop-start acceleration to make defenders miss in a phone booth. He has a fluid lower body with flexible ankles that generate his high-end agility and lateral bounce. Hesitations, jump cuts, and ankle-breaking moments are common on Spears’ tape because of his athletic prowess and exceptional footwork and foot speed. The all-conference running back uses his small frame to his advantage by dipping under tackle attempts. He also shows good toughness for his size, stepping out of arm tackles, displaying contact balance, lowering his pad level at the point of contact, and finishing forward with a head of steam. Spears has some very impressive catches on tape and is a massive YAC threat, but he has a limited body of work as a pass catcher. His route tree, route running, ball tracking, and concentration at the catch point are works in progress. There are some instances on tape of him properly identifying and slowing rushers in pass protection, but Spears lacks the bulk and technique to offer much in that area. His awareness and aggression in pass protection are inconsistent. The Louisiana native won’t break many tackles with power because of his size, and he struggles to overcome hits in the backfield. There are times when he appears too focused on bouncing runs outside. Spears has excellent speed, but it isn’t always enough to erase the safety’s angle. He has very little special teams experience.

Overall, Spears is a twitchy, electric runner with untapped potential as a pass catcher. He’ll offer three-down potential if he becomes a consistent receiver out of the backfield. Spears’ only physical limitation is his size, which might be easier to overcome in the modern NFL than in previous years because defenses are shifting to smaller first and second-level defenders.

Role & Scheme Fit: Second back in a committee in an outside zone or gap scheme

Round Projection: Mid Third to Early Fourth

Player Comparison: N/A

Submitted: 03-08-23