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Atlanta Falcons Draft Profile: Noah Spence

By Raekwon Gilbert

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You can never have too much talent.

Let’s be completely honest. This year was a major improvement for the Dan Quinn and the Atlanta Falcons but it wasn’t anything to boast about. The team still has issues on the defensive side of the ball and there are numerous postions fading out with talent. General manager Thomas Dimitroff is on the hot seat and if he can’t bring in talent this year from both free agency and the draft then it should be the end of Comrade era.

Luckily for the Falcons, the 2016 NFL draft class is filled with high-potential talent that could help solidify a team’s depth. Depth is something Dimitroff hasn’t done a great job at doing and objective that he will graded out on after being confirmed for a return by owner Arthur Blank.

There were a lot of players to select to help solidify the depth and build more talent around but to me there are a few players that could help a team and Eastern Kentucky Noah Spence is one of them.

If the name sounds familiar then you should recall him playing for Ohio State and being kicked off the team after multiple drug tests. He eventually graduated from Ohio State and then transferred to Eastern Kentucky where he shown that he has turned his life around and making better decisions. At Eastern Kentucky he did not fail one drug test.

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While playing on the FCS level, he collected 63 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks. Some may say that his stats were inflated a bit because of the level of talent that he played against but he dominated in games against North Carolina State and Kentucky. In both games, he showed great balance and pass-rushing abilities that scouts would’ve liked to see against better talent.

While watching Spence, you’ll notice that he has great quickness in space and able to change his momentum onto a lineman in seconds. He has great upper body strength that at times he’ll rely on too much.

If he can learn how to properly set his hands, understand when to attack, gain coverage ability then Spence will be a force to be reckon with. He reminds me a lot of San Diego Chargers’ Melvin Ingram with a little less power in the lower body but both possessed the same movements in the hips and ability to fight through blockers.

He knows how to position himself alongside linemen in the run game and has nice hips when keeping of center of gravity when bending around the corner of a tackle. He may project nest as an primary pass-rusher who would line up in an either LEO linebacker position or as an 5-tech with his hand in the dirt.

Next: Five underrated draft prospects Falcons should consider

If Dimitroff and Quinn were to take a chance at Spence with either their first or second pick then you’ll most likely see a change in Vic Beasley role with the team and having less exposure on him during games. I would personally love to see defensive line coach Bryan Cox matched up with a Spence-Beasley combo for the future which could be deadly.