Reviewing the Redshirts is an off-season series meant to resurrect discussion around the current Irish freshmen who did not play in 2016.
There were 11 players who retained a year of eligibility this past year and today we look at a tweener safety trying to step up in a new defense and find a role on the team.
S, Spencer Perry
Hometown:Â Newhan, Georgia
Height:Â 6-2
Weight: 204
247Sports Composite Ranking:
3-star, No. 33 S, No. 77 FL, No. 532 USA, 0.867 score
Need at Position: Low-to-Mild
Expected Spot on the 2017 Depth Chart: Third-team
With every new defensive coordinator there’s always a hybrid position that we think is going to breath live into several players on the roster. Although it rarely ends up being a major breakthrough, Spencer Perry may want to hope it will be so under Mike Elko. He and several others are projected to the Rover position under the new Irish defensive coordinator.
Here’s my blurb on Perry following last year’s NSD:
Perry has good speed and is a sound tackler. He’s patient and sees the game well. I’m not crazy about his footwork, though. He’s almost too patient at times and waits too long to put himself into position to make a big(ger) play. I can see him hanging around at strong safety for a while but that lack of footspeed and defensive back skill is a main reason why most think he’ll move to linebacker. As an early enrollee that’ll be a good spot for him to develop, add some weight, and see where he fits.
Virtually everyone had Perry playing linebacker in college and that’s even where we put him during our National Signing Day reviews last February. The discouraging news for Perry was that he was far lighter (204 as of last August after being in the weight program for over 6 months) than believed and he was unable to see the field in a (fairly) wide open safety position despite Spencer being an early enrollee.
Perry wouldn’t be the first early enrollee to disappear in year one only to shoot up the depth chart in year two. However, his second spring with the Irish is going to be monumental to his development. For one, we’ll see if he actually switches to the Rover position which would mean gaining at least 20 pounds to get up to the weight of Drue Tranquill who is likely the bare minimum size there.
We’ll also have to see which other players switch positions. Should Tranquill move to Rover it might be more beneficial for Perry to remain at safety. In this case, Perry could be in the two-deep almost by default since the depth at safety isn’t great and lacks upperclassmen with experience.
Strong safety may be his best bet, ultimately. Without Tranquill there really isn’t anyone proven with a big body and downhill presence. The Irish tried Fertitta and Elliott in this role at times in 2016 and both are not great options in terms of size.
Bottom line, if Perry becomes a player worthy of serious minutes he’ll play wherever he fits best. I never thought he’d be fast enough to remain at safety but we may be asking a lot from him to gain a bunch more weight to become a linebacker. So, remaining at the back end might be a lot more reasonable than previously thought a year ago.
The 2016 Redshirts:
QB Ian Book
RB Tony Jones
WR Deon McIntosh
OG Parker Boudreaux
OT Tommy Kraemer
OT Liam Eichenberg
DE Ade Ogundeji
LB Jonathan Jones
S Spencer Perry
S D.J. Morgan
LS John Shannon
Correction: He be from Newnan, Georgia. I’ve spent a few nights in that crap hole. Suburb of a suburb of Atlanta. A co-worker saw Katt Williams get arrested at Walmart there #coolstorybrah.
Damn, UND.com set me up for failure. I definitely double checked thinking it should be Newnan but I guess I trust too much.
Spencer Perry: 60’s rockstar, designer jeans, Chandler from Friends?
“Need at Position: Low-to-Mild”
I’m confused. I thought there was a high need and even the article says so.
Fair, it should probably be at least mild. I don’t think Perry is ultimately a two-deep player in 2017 which clouded my judgement a little bit.