Name: Tyjae Spears

School:  Tulane

Year:  Redshirt Jr

Position: running back

Measurements: 5' 91/2"  201 lbs

Combine: 18 reps, 39” vertical, 10’05” broad jump, 4.47 40 (pro day)

STATS:

Courtesy of Sports-reference.com

General Info:

Spears was a three-star recruit coming out of Ponchatoula, Louisiana; scoring 18 touchdowns in his senior season with 1,800 total yards. He also has eight siblings. The former Green Wave played a very small role his first two season at Tulane, both seasons he played less than 60 snaps each season, eventually earning a redshirt for the 2019 season. He did show flashes as a Sophomore rushing for 7.4 yards a carry for 274 yards in just three games before an injury ended his season. Spears came back healthy in 2021 and played a lot more, but wasn’t “the guy” splitting carries with Cameron Carroll, but still leading the team in rushing with 863 yards and 9 rushing TDs. He also returned two kicks that season for a total of 37 yards. Having a career game against Memphis that season he rushed for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He took the reins in 2022 and had a season to remember with 1,586 yards rushing, 19 touchdowns and two more receiving. Spears was invited to and participated in the Senior Bowl at the end of the season and also was invited to the combine.

Positional Skills:

Strengths:

Spears has a compact build, muscular and well proportioned; perfect for the NFL. On film he shows very quick feet, with the ability to change direction on a dime, or juke any defender leaving them grasping at air; this really showed in his explosive testing. Spears shows nice jump cuts behind the line of scrimmage to find the open hole if his initial one is closed. He the former Green Wave will even us a dead leg on occasion. Due to his low center of gravity and how low he runs Spears shows very good contact balance for a guy who is just barely 200 pounds. On film the former Green Wave shows soft hands out of the backfield as a receiver and has shown improvement as a receiver from year to year. He really has a nose for the end zone, evidenced by the 19 rushing touchdowns he had in 2022, he just knows how to slither his way into the end zone. The Louisiana native shows an ability to tempo his speed on the field, then turn on the jets to pull away from defenders. Despite his size the former three-star recruit generally falls forward when being tackled. Spears will use a stiff arm occasionally and it is somewhat effective. He has been known to lower his head from time to time. The Louisiana native’s feet never stop moving. Finally, he has amazing vision it is like he has a sixth sense, where he hits the hole just as its opening up.

Weaknesses:

The first and easiest one that stands out is his size, even for NFL standards he is a bit undersized at barely 200 pounds and it shows at times in very short yardage situations and in pass blocking, he lacks the power right now to be effective in those situations; though he has shown and willingness to be a good pass blocker. While not slow my any means Spears is not a threat to take a carry 50 yards on any consistent basis, evidence by his 4.47 40 that he ran at his pro day. Spears has just 48 catches in his career with half of those just in 2022 alone and was not asked to run a varied route tree outside of basic dumb offs and Swing/wheel/seem routes. The redshirt Junior measured in with 30 3/4ths” arms and it shows in the passing game his smaller catch radius. Spears does try to bounce a few too many carries to the outside. The former Green Wave also will carry the ball too loosely at times, although it hasn’t hurt him too much yet with just three career fumbles.

Fit with the Packers:

Tyjae Spears would be a great fit with the Packers. He has some similarities to Aaron Jones when he came out of UTEP, I made the comparison to Jones back early on in the 2022 season. They have very similar skill sets with Jones being more pro ready in that he had more production, and was a better pass blocker, but Spears might have a slightly higher upside. Green Bay would be a great place for him to learn from Jones as a rookie while he works on his routes, blocking, and adding a little more bulk to his frame. He could then take over in 2024 to be Jordan Love’s main back and an offensive weapon. Spears should get taken in the 2nd round.