2017 National Signing Day: Clemson Early Enrollee Baylon Spector

Perhaps one of the more interesting players in this class, Baylon Spector is a 3 star commit from Calhoun, GA. He is listed as a safety but as we will discuss below, that’s more because he has to be classified as something. He is listed as 6’2” and weighs 220 lbs. His primary recruiter was Brent Venables and he had offers from Auburn and UGA along with a few other programs.

Spector is interesting because he is an extremely versatile player. He has the size of a safety like Tanner Muse, but he has experience at a variety of positions. Clemson seems to see him as some sort of nickel, SAM, or safety hybrid. It is even possible he could rotate around to provide backup depth depending on the needs of the team.

QT’s Take:

My understanding is that Baylon will play LB at Clemson, starting at the SAM position. Spector deserves credit for committing very early and sticking to that commitment, with zero worries. I was initially very skeptical of this take and thought it was very early to lock him up with such a small class. While there may have been bigger fish available at the time, Clemson ultimately whiffed on Drew Singleton, which makes Baylon an important player at the SAM position. This year we saw how much better the defense played when they had O’Daniel on the field.

Baylon was Mr. Calhoun High School. He played QB, running the ball more than anything, and defense. Like Brian said above, he lined up all over the secondary. I was ready to hate on Spector, but his senior film showed me something. He made a big jump from his junior year to his senior year where he added at least 10 pounds of muscle and started to fill out. I am not ready to say he is an underrated gem, but I think he will make a contribution down the road. As a QB he shows some toughness and shiftiness, surprising quickness in short spaces.

Recruiting services have him pegged as a Safety, but he doesn’t have the needed top end speed or the hips to really stick at the position. He does have a great shuttle time of 4.26, however. If he can maintain that suddenness and agility with another 10 pounds of muscle or so on his 6’2 frame—then we have a player. Must improve that speed though and there will be a learning curve going full-time at LB for Brent Venables. He is the number 608 overall 247 Composite player and that feels about 200 spots off. I’d have him in the 400 range as a high 3* recruit. Definitely a redshirt candidate.