Unorthodox Transformation For Noah Spence
May 13th, 2017
Tune change
Odd and intriguing news on the Noah Spence front.
It seems Spence has made an about-face when it comes to one of his major offseason goals.
Spence told Joe late last year about how he planned to add significant weight to his 250-pound frame during the offseason. Spence specifically noted how he thought it would help him in the run game.
Well, things have changed.
Per Spence’s Friday’ chat with Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. Spence has cut body fat, is about 240 pounds or so, and is looking to get leaner.
That news really surprised Joe, primarily because of how adamant Spence was about his desire to gain weight. And last summer, Mike Smith publicly referred to Spence “undersized” multiple times.
Smith was firm last week while praising Spence and saying he had shown enough to have the team excited to make him a three-down defensive end. But man, there aren’t many of those at 240 pounds.
Spence won’t practice significantly until training camp because of his offseason shoulder surgery. It’ll be darn interesting to see what he looks like when “the animal” is unleashed — and how 330-pound Donovan Smith matches up with him in those August battles.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:02 pm
That slimmed down size sure sounds like a 3-4 olb
May 13th, 2017 at 7:03 pm
Spence is the the man after hi 15 sacks this year the rest of the league will need to ketchup “57”
May 13th, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Yah 3-4 outside linebacker
May 13th, 2017 at 7:13 pm
Well going against Smith he’ll do fine. It’s the starting caliber LTs in the NFL that concerns me.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:14 pm
Agreed with the 3-4 backer. Bucs are moving towards a 3-4 defense, no doubt
May 13th, 2017 at 7:19 pm
First thing I thought as well, more 3-4. Keep the defense line rotation fresher as well and blitzing linebackers
May 13th, 2017 at 7:25 pm
“That news really surprised Joe…”
Maybe Mike Smith told him not to put on the weight.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:29 pm
Outside LB… don’t see Spence as the kind that would go off and do something like that on his own.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:30 pm
And btw..him at 240 is the kind of guy that Donovan Smith really struggles with.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:32 pm
Njbucsfan.. smith is without question a solid starting caliber LT.. def sounding like Spence could be used as a 3-4 OLB which is intriguing
May 13th, 2017 at 7:43 pm
Bring back fat Free.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:44 pm
He’s slimmed down while putting on more muscle. There’s an article out detailing his diet.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:53 pm
It’s May. We have like three months until real football. Not a problem. Add maybe 25 more pounds of muscle and he will be at a Simeon Rice / Dwight Freenney weight.
May 13th, 2017 at 7:54 pm
Bucs seem serious about shoring up the run defense. Let this guy be strictly a pass rush specialist and use the heavy roster to keep everyone fresh in the 4th.
I would love it if they expect him to see an increase in snaps especially if the reason is we play with the lead instead more often than not this year
May 13th, 2017 at 8:05 pm
If the Bucs were going to a 3-4 why would that be a big secret that no one knew about? You’d have to show it in the preseason if you’re going to use it.
May 13th, 2017 at 8:28 pm
It’ll be darn interesting to see what he looks like when “the animal” is unleashed
…………
You misspelled “Spawn”.
May 13th, 2017 at 8:35 pm
Yes… Everything points to a 3-4 defense defense, If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck….
May 13th, 2017 at 9:05 pm
Von Miller style
May 13th, 2017 at 9:06 pm
Hope this is not the first sign the offense will get a lot of rest this season.
May 13th, 2017 at 9:09 pm
Linebacker
May 13th, 2017 at 9:12 pm
Fat Freeman was the best.
May 13th, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Just a wild crazy thought, but if we go 3-4 could they consider moving LVD to strong safety in the mold of what Troy Polumolu did with the Steelers?
May 13th, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Passing downs all day
We need a prototypical d end
May 13th, 2017 at 9:34 pm
Look at Robert Mathis, he played around 235-240. Not saying Spence will reach that level of productivity….but playing at such a low weight won’t automatically rule out his chances of being a very good all around player.
May 13th, 2017 at 9:45 pm
Noah’s best asset as a pass rusher last year appeared to be his speed. He’s apparently doubling down on his best means of getting to the QB.
Spence and Jac Smith bring a lot of speed off the edges if you have one at either end. Combine that with a solid push up the middle from McCoy and Ayers and there’s your “turbo” pass rush pkg on 3rd and long…
May 13th, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Something doesn’t add up. Bucs may be moving to a 3-4 in the future, but right now it just doesn’t look like our roster is built for a 3-4 as our primary defense. Can see us using it some to show different looks in different situations (which Smitty wants to do anyways), but not on a full-time basis. Not yet. Still, I’m confident that Noah wouldn’t have dropped the weight without Smitty’s approval. Losing fat & adding more muscle will hopefully translate to an even quicker Spence to focus on passing downs, and maybe that’s what the goal is. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
May 13th, 2017 at 9:57 pm
In Mike Smith’s last conference he called him a 3 down linebacker not a defensive end.
May 13th, 2017 at 10:36 pm
There isn’t a three down 240 lb DE in the NFL ……… Spence runs a 4.8 and tests AVG or slightly above but he does have Elite technique , hands ,inside and outside moves !! Plus to date , an apparent drive to be better than Avg.
May 13th, 2017 at 11:02 pm
jsut ordered my stick carrier t-shirt. cant wait to wear it at dolphins game.
GO BUCS!!!!!!
May 13th, 2017 at 11:14 pm
240 is very light for an every down end. Why rush him into thst role? At his current physique he can potentially run circles around opposing tackles on third down.
May 13th, 2017 at 11:45 pm
Yet more evidence that Smith is running a lot more 3-4 this year. We’ve had many pieces of evidence this offseason pointing in that direction. Should be exciting.
May 13th, 2017 at 11:48 pm
This is going to be a season everybody will look at as being a significant change in Tampa Bay I just hope it’s for the better.
May 13th, 2017 at 11:49 pm
I was thinking we were gonna see some preliminary steps toward a hybrid defensive system that would be more opponent specific. DE’s and safetys who weigh out as small/fast or big/strong linebackers … hmmmm. Add in true 3-4 nose-guards. DE’s playing tackle.
May 13th, 2017 at 11:51 pm
3-4 huh? In Tampa> Hmmm
May 14th, 2017 at 12:17 am
3-4, huh? I guess there is some writing on the wall. Not sure how I feel about it. Smith’ extension may have included a green “licht” for starting a full on transition to a 3-4 and he knows he’ll need at least two years to do it.
May 14th, 2017 at 12:18 am
Lol, 87.
May 14th, 2017 at 12:54 am
Hmmmm,
May 14th, 2017 at 2:08 am
So.. We do realize that Von Miller has been in the 240-250 range his entire career and has been wrecking the league ever since he learned to play the game at the NFL level right??
May 14th, 2017 at 4:27 am
just read the article, the full article, not the little snippet that wrote Joe’s article. Says this is part of his offseason commitment. If you do the math, he’s really changed the makeup of his body. Just rounding his numbers he’s going from @ 37 pounds of body fat to @ 24 while dropping 8 or so net pounds.. so thats an increase of 5 pounds of muscle.
I had a high school coach tell me this, maybe it applies. “Adding weight is important but adding fat is getting fat”
May 14th, 2017 at 5:09 am
Beckwith, Kwon, Lavonte, Spawn LB
Gholston, Stevie, GMac. DL
May 14th, 2017 at 5:53 am
Robert Mathis played his entire career under 250. I’m still trying to wrap my head around some people’s obsession with the 3-4. You have to draft players specifically for the 3-4. 2 5 techs. NT, 2 bigger ILB, 2 250 lb OLBs that can bring heat. We have 4-3 specific personnel. It would take two seasons to even begin a successful conversion to the 3-4. Cleveland, DC, NYJ, have been trying to do it successfully for years with little to no success.
May 14th, 2017 at 6:35 am
@Seattle- flop Stevie with SWAGGY, or pop him on that list playa! Gonna b a Beast!!!
May 14th, 2017 at 7:59 am
I’m surprised that Tmaxcon isn’t recommending dropping GMC and going to a
2-5 defense….
May 14th, 2017 at 8:52 am
I am Smitty is going to run alot more looks out of a 3-4!
May 14th, 2017 at 9:21 am
I think the 3-4 will be now and then, not the primary D. I seem to think I read that somewhere….said by Koetter or Smith.
May 14th, 2017 at 9:29 am
Not a fan of no where as a player
I wonder if he himself decided to shed the weight without telling the coaching staff
240lbs cant set the edge and that was his problem and a undrafted player played in front and more snaps them him
4.8 is slow mollasse territory. Tweeners are busts.
Dude wont play any 1st and 2nd downs
“No where Spence has crazy eyes”
Kobe Faker
May 14th, 2017 at 10:48 am
You’ve written before how Smith likes to mix in some 3-4 on occasion so this certainly lines up with that.
May 14th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Our roster right now is built for the 4-3 and 3-4 defense.
May 14th, 2017 at 12:23 pm
Lawrence Taylor played his entire career between 237 and 245. It’s clear what direction the Bucs D is going, whether they make a public statement or not.
After what seems like a lifetime of the Buc 4-3 cover 2 and all the great players in it, this is a foreign change. Frankly, I embrace it.
NFL: Not For Long. Are we about to see a trend set?
May 14th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
When Coach Mckay brought the 3-4 defense from USC to the NFL in ’76 the Bucs became the 1st NFL team to use the 3-4 as their predominant base defense. I would like to see it come back. It’s easier to find LB’s who can pash rush than DE’s.
May 14th, 2017 at 2:48 pm
Tiapanda….I remember Abe Gibron’s 3-4 and how it worked. I loved the 3-4, still do. But I think the NFL has evolved. I think if you have a good front four, you are better off than with a 3-4…against pass and run. Guys are so much faster now up front. However, I think the Bucs are only doing this for different looks, matchup problems, confusion. To that, I think it will work fine.
May 14th, 2017 at 4:15 pm
We had the #1 defense in the NFL, when we ran a 3-4 defense. But we also had Richard ‘Batman’ Wood, Cecil Johnson, Dewey Selmon, David Lewis as our LBs. And we had Leroy Selmon as a DE, you need good athletic LBs to be successful in a 3-4.
May 14th, 2017 at 4:15 pm
I think Floyd Peters was our DC back then.
May 14th, 2017 at 4:17 pm
Nope it was Tom Bass, he was our 3-4 DC.
May 14th, 2017 at 5:17 pm
Simeon Rice was 259 lbs at his combine. That’s only a 19 lb difference. A little muscle and he’ll get there.
Heck, I put on ten pounds after a holiday meal. All Table Muscle.
May 15th, 2017 at 3:59 pm
I think this leans more to being a hybrid team on defense than being specifically 3-4/4-3. The only difference is swapping out of a DE for an OLB. Both could still be considered pass rushers.