In a development that has shocked exactly no one, the Ravens are taking it slow in free agency. Since acquiring Chris Canty, the Ravens have made only one other move.
The newest Raven is Marcus Spears, another defensive lineman. The organization seems intent on building depth along the defensive line, presumably to ease the growing pains of the young linebackers and safeties.
With that said, we went to the film to see what Spears was all about…
Who is Marcus Spears?
Marcus Spears spent the last seven seasons playing for the Dallas Cowboys (hmm… another ex-Cowboys D-lineman). Like Canty, Spears had recently signed a lucrative contract (5 years for $19.2 million). The Ravens, by contrast, get him just two seasons later for two years and $3.55 million.
According to ProFootballFocus, Spears’ 2012 performance-based value was only $860,000, which means the Ravens may have overpaid.
On to the Measurables…
Like Canty, Spears is a big dude. Really big. He’s officially listed at 6’4”, 315lbs.
Unlike Canty, Spears has very short arms. Interestingly, though, this doesn’t seem to stop teams from trying to double-team him (because of his size). Though not exceptional at taking on double teams, Spears does have some veteran savvy. Check out the gif below for a crafty move by Spears: while taking on the double team, he holds the center, not allowing him to get to the second level, then sheds his block and makes a run stop in his gap.
EDIT: GIF removed per NFL
And while Spears is not great with his stubby arms, he is fairly good at getting his hands up in passing lanes.
EDIT: GIF removed per NFL
Unfortunately, Spears is pretty slow. He more or less leans on the blocker in front of him to push his man back–his priority is not really getting up field or shedding blocks. Most of the time this results in a stalemate–he doesn’t give up ground easily but also doesn’t gain much ground himself. And he pretty much does this on every single snap. As Dan put it, “this was a very boring study.”
Where Does He Fit In?
In Dallas, Spears played primarily left defensive end and nose tackle in their 3-4. He started one game at right defensive end in week 2 last season and stunk. And he is definitely not a 4-3 end on either side.
In the 3-4, Spears typically lines head-up on a blocker (as opposed to, say, a 4-3 over, where the defensive linemen line up over gaps). His role is to 2-gap and take up space.
He isn’t terrible at stopping the run, but isn’t great either. According to PFF he had 11 stops in 2012, good for 25th out of 66 qualifying 3-4 DEs. However, his run stop percentage, the more important statistic, was pretty bad–5.5%, or 42nd out of 66 qualifying players. See below for a decent stop against Cleveland.
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Bottom Line
Spears appears to be a two-down player at best. He will likely be a rotational guy in the middle of the line and will likely play nose tackle for the Ravens. We aren’t huge fans of this acquisition, particularly because it appears we overpaid for what we’re going to get. But depth on the line is never a bad thing.
Now, for your entertainment, Spears sacking Roethlisberger:
EDIT: GIF removed per NFL
Hey everyone–we are Chris Worthington (@BSLChrisW) and Dan Bryden (@BSL_Bryden), two good friends and past college roommates as well as avid Ravens fans. We have been using the new All-22 Coaches film to try to get a closer look at the Ravens this year. We hope you enjoy it, and we STRONGLY encourage you to leave comments or questions in the forum–one of our primary goals when we decided to start writing was to foster conversation.
