Spencer Brown – Senior – Running Back, UAB
Pros: Brown runs aggressive, does a great job of being able to attack the line of scrimmage and plays with good strength and balance to be able to run through arm tackles and punish players for being lazy. He has been a hard guy to take down once he gets rolling and does an excellent job of lowering his pad level into defenders to make it tougher to bring him down. He shows good instincts on the goal line and hits the holes quick, hard and low which has resulted in a lot of touchdowns over his first 3 years at UAB. He is a competitive runner who keeps his legs churning through contact and tries to wriggle himself free and gain extra yards. He does well behind his blockers to get some space and find gaps where he can look to break a big run. Uses quick footwork to lead defenders into taking a step in the wrong direction, utilizing a stutter step when rushing up the middle to try and create separation. Was a tough runner to bring down in one-on-one situations.
Cons: Brown seems to lack an overall explosiveness to his game which leads to him being chased down or run out of play on his bigger runs. He lacks acceleration after his initial burst to the line and so it takes him some time to get up to full speed, which is not game busting. He plays impatiently at times and doesn’t allow for his blocks to develop which leads to being caught in the backfield at times. He is a one-cut style back running mostly in a straight line and does not show any elite change of direction ability to turn the corner or make cutbacks. Does not show great technique or instinct when playing in pass protection, he will need to improve this to increase his value at the NFL level.
Summary: Brown had a phenomenal Freshman and Sophomore year where he had excellent production as the lead back for the team. Coming into the 2020 season he trails only Travis Etienne in total rushing yards for active running backs. He has a good initial burst and collects the ball well to avoid fumbles in transition. He has a good ‘nose for the end-zone’ on goal line carries where he is able to pinpoint the weak spot and get himself over the line. Brown had a steep drop off in yards per attempt, yards after contact and total production in 2019. He appeared to have lost some of his explosiveness and was not able to find good cutback lanes. He appears to be a little one-dimensional in his game which is only a drawback because he doesn’t have the power or speed to be extremely effective in that style. He dealt with several injuries throughout the 2019 season and missed a lot of playing time. While he runs hard he often takes hits he shouldn’t have to as he reads the line wrong and gets caught up behind the line of scrimmage or ends up taking a big shot because he moves away from his blockers into traffic. Runs upright a lot of the time and doesn’t make use of his agility often enough. A concern I have is how much of a workload he will be coming out of college with, as he has been a 4 year starter and has taken a pretty significant amount of snaps in each season. He has also dealt with a few injuries which has limited his effectiveness as a runner.
I am hopeful that Brown can regain the form he had early on in his Collegiate career but if he backs up another year of injuries and inconsistent play he will find himself going undrafted. If he can have a productive year he may be able to stand out with some prime time games this season and put his name on a couple of big boards.
Projection: 6th round – Undrafted Free Agent
Comparison: Benny Lemay/Daniel “Boom” Herron
