Cowboyszone Report Card... Marcus Spears...GPA = 2.24

[Hostile]

This one will interest me.

Grade Marcus Spears.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

I think hes pretty solid at what he does and the market for him will show that.

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

this was a tough one but I gave him a B.

I think his importance to the defense showed when he was lost for the year

 

[urface59]

I think he's a B- player. Got injured so I gave him a C.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I think he earned a C due to injury....

 

[CowboyDan]

In my classroom I don't give low grades for injuires. I give grades based on performance when you played. He played in 8 games and had 11 tackles, 8 assisted. No sacks, no pass defenses, no forced fumbles, no tackles for loss, nothing. His backup, Stephen Bowen, started in 9 games at the same position. He had 16 tackles, 6 assisted, 1.5 sacks, and 1 pass defensed. He also put a lot of pressure on the QB's he faced, and made a lot less than Spears at the time. Not to mention that Spears in a 1st round pick. I guess I'm blind, but I just don't see what's so special about him. And he was even more mediocre this season. He gets a D from me, and I'm happy to see Stephen Bowen poised to take his spot.

 

[CowboyMike]

In my classroom I don't give low grades for injuires. I give grades based on performance when you played. He played in 8 games and had 11 tackles, 8 assisted. No sacks, no pass defenses, no forced fumbles, no tackles for loss, nothing. His backup, Stephen Bowen, started in 9 games at the same position. He had 16 tackles, 6 assisted, 1.5 sacks, and 1 pass defensed. He also put a lot of pressure on the QB's he faced, and made a lot less than Spears at the time. Not to mention that Spears in a 1st round pick. I guess I'm blind, but I just don't see what's so special about him. And he was even more mediocre this season. He gets a D from me, and I'm happy to see Stephen Bowen poised to take his spot.

There is nothing special about him, but he is solid. Very solid. Spears most likely would have been an above average to excellent 4-3 end if he was drafted by a team that would have played him there, but he wasn't.

Bowen did have better pass rush pressure, but we fell off drastically in run support when we lost Spears.

Spears not eating up double teams when he went down with an injury is the number one reason Ratliff got run over in the running game this year. He didn't have Spears to hold off blockers like before.

Marcus Spears is the milk man of our run defense. You don't realize he is there until he's gone.

 

[Clove]

He gets a B from me. It's really hard to judge a 3/4 lineman, but I do know that when he's playing, it's hard to run his direction.

 

[Coakleys Dad]

Hes a good run stopper, not a get up the field D-end thats goin to get alot of sacks. He wont be back, hes looking for a payday.

 

[big dog cowboy]

No question our run defense suffered once he went down.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Where is the incomplete option?

 

[Plankton]

B. Only starter to hold up against the run early in the season, and was missed for the rest of the season when he was injured. One of the most underrated players on the team, and should be brought back, though he likely won't. I do think that if he received more time on third downs, that he could rush the passer as well or better than Jason Hatcher.

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

C. Hes been nothing but a "run-stopping" Dman.

And I honestly think homer-fans just say that bc they search for reasons to justify his first round selection

 

[CowboyDan]

Bowen did have better pass rush pressure, but we fell off drastically in run support when we lost Spears.

He gets a B from me. It's really hard to judge a 3/4 lineman, but I do know that when he's playing, it's hard to run his direction.

Hes a good run stopper, not a get up the field D-end thats goin to get alot of sacks. He wont be back, hes looking for a payday.

No question our run defense suffered once he went down.

B. Only starter to hold up against the run early in the season,

I keep hearing that we were so good against the run when he was in, but I can't find any evidence of this. Here's a link to the game by game stats.http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal/2010.htm
Spears went down in week 8, I believe.

 

[Hostile]

Where is the incomplete option?

Where it belongs.

 

[casmith07]

Unsung player on our defense (aside from Bradie James).

Noticeable drop-off in our ability to push the pocket and contain the run in his absence.

A.

 

[TheCount]

Spears gets a B from me, he played well and you noticed his absence when he went down with the injury.

 

[CowboyDan]

Unsung player on our defense (aside from Bradie James).

Noticeable drop-off in our ability to push the pocket and contain the run in his absence.

A.

Spears gets a B from me, he played well and you noticed his absence when he went down with the injury.

Maybe you guys will play along.......do you have any facts or stats that back up this claim that there was a dropoff when he went down?

 

[perrykemp]

C. Hes been nothing but a "run-stopping" Dman.

And I honestly think homer-fans just say that bc they search for reasons to justify his first round selection

Run stopping is the primary job of 3-4 defensive lineman. A 3-4 is designed to create opportunities for the LBs.

The Packers were a bit of an exception this year in that between Raji and Jenkins they had 14 sacks. I don't think that # of sacks by the DL in a 3-4 is mandatory to have a successful 3-4 defense.

 

[Hagman]

I have read for years about what a great run stopper he is. Maybe it is the strongest part of his game, but his game is just average.

C