2023 Senior Bowl Risers & Fallers: Tyjae Spears

The competitive fires were on display at Senior Bowl all week. Players were giving it their all with dreams of the NFL Draft swirling in their heads. Thor Nystrom, Derek Brown, Crissy Froyd and Mike Maher were on-site in Mobile, AL to cover all of the practices, press conferences and interviews. Here are some final takeaways about RB Tyjae Spears.

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Senior Bowl Riser: Tulane RB Tyjae Spears

Flashed all week long. I think he’s the biggest winner of the event. NFL executives & scouts apparently agree — Spears was named Senior Bowl Practice Player-of-Week in their vote.

Spears’ strengths, obvious as they were on film, were equally obvious in Mobile. What impressed the most, arguably, was his addressing, one-by-one, the questions in his eval coming in. He turned some into myths.

The doubters said Spears was a durability concern (ACL in 2020). They said he had a skinny build that may not be able to handle the full load. They said he had questionable third-down utility besides. And that he didn’t play special teams.

First, Spears challenged the size question. He weighed into the event at 204 pounds – significantly higher than he’d ever been listed with Tulane at. Spears, who was listed this past season at 195 pounds, told Crissy Froyd and me on Wednesday morning that he played the bowl game against USC at 197 pounds.

Spears said he put on the extra seven pounds over the past four weeks in training. Don’t be surprised if he shows up to Indianapolis closer to 210 – the NFL’s size-threshold for running backs.

Secondly, and just as importantly, Spears showed he could retain his movement skills at the bigger size. He was easily the most explosive back in Mobile.

Third, Spears showed that he could be a value-add in an NFL passing offense. In Mobile, he displayed receiving chops that weren’t obvious on his film. It appears that may have just been a college usage thing.

Not only did Spears take profits with his easy pass-catching reps, but he showed route-running chops nobody gave him credit for. He went viral on Thursday for sending a linebacker into the shadow realm out of a route break during one-on-one drills.

Spears caught multiple balls outside his frame before seamlessly turning upfield. He must have dropped a ball at some point during the week. I just don’t remember him doing so. His hands appeared soft and reliable.

Spears’ next challenge is to prove to doctors in Indianapolis that his knee isn’t a long-term problem. And then, of course, to blow the roof off athletic testing. The latter seems like a foregone conclusion. If Spears checks both of those boxes, Day 2 is going to have to make room for him in April.

Tulane RB Tajae Spears was listed at (5’11)/195 lbs — he surprised by weighing in at #SeniorBowl at (5’10)/204

Spears told us that he played bowl game vs USC at 197 pounds — then gained the other 7 lbs in training past 4 weeks

He looks good, and the on-field explosion remains pic.twitter.com/m1OeP6SKvO

— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) February 1, 2023