The first ever 4-star signee in UTSA football history, Spencer Burford became a starter for the Roadrunners as a true freshman and was a fixture on the offensive line across four seasons. He began his career at left guard before spending his final two seasons at left tackle where he projects best at the next level. His family members include former NFL players LaAdrian Waddle and Sam Hurd, who are his cousins. Burford is an athletic offensive tackle with outstanding length. He has good temperament when blocking and is an aggressive player. As a run blocker, Burford shines when he can use his length, quickness, and power to find leverage points on defenders and widen lanes. When pass blocking, Burford’s length and foot speed shine as physically, he has everything necessary in his toolbox to excel. When it comes to areas of concern for Burford at the next level, it’s becoming more consistent with weight distribution and not getting his head out in front of his toes and eliminating balance issues while putting more trust in his anchor to absorb power. He also needs to find more consistency with reaching his set points and trusting his athleticism to stay square in true pass sets. He can still find more consistency with his punch timing and placement. Burford has the makeup of a starter in the NFL at offensive tackle in a zone-blocking scheme but that is likely a two-year projection as he adds functional strength and cleans up his technique.

Ideal Role: Developmental starting offensive tackle

Scheme Fit: Zone run scheme

FILM EVALUATION

Written by Joe Marino 

Games watched: Illinois (2021), Western Kentucky (2021), UAB (2021), Western Kentucky CCG (2021)

Best Game Studied: Illinois (2021)

Worst Game Studied: UAB (2021)

Balance: Overall, Burford is a smooth operator and terrific athlete that controls himself well. With that said, his contact balance can be inconsistent due to a tendency to get top heavy, fold at the waist and have his weight out over his toes when engaged. He has the movement skills and length necessary to execute, he just needs to trust it with more consistency.

Pass Sets: Burford has the foot quickness and movement skills needed to consistently reach his set points. With that said, he can be overcommitted to shutting down the inside move and/or shutting down the outside track, which leads to some irregularity with his footwork. I want to see him trust his ability to slide, mirror and use his length which are all present traits. The UTSA offense only tasked him with a modest amount of actual true pass sets so there is a learning curve ahead for Burford.

Competitive Toughness: See Above.

Lateral Mobility: See Above.

Length: See Above.

Football IQ: Burford is a four-year starter for the roadrunners and he’s generally committed to playing with good technique. There are instances on tape where his release to the second level in the run game can be early and he can be a touch tardy to respond to pressure packages and identifying inside threats to the quarterback. He isn’t immune to penalties but they haven’t been a major issue in college. 

Hand Technique: Burford has some impressive moments of sound timing and placement with his hands but there is some inconsistency. He can be a touch late to activate his hands with some instances of wider strikes. His punch is efficient with good pop and he demonstrates good variance with his strikes.

Anchor Ability: Burford is a touch lean but my exposures did not reveal issues with pass rushers playing through him or having much success with the bull rush. With that said, I want to see him play with better weight distribution and be more willing to keep his weight back. His anchor will be challenged in new ways at the NFL, so shoring up his technique and adding functional strength is necessary.

Power at POA: Burford has good temperament when rolling his hips into contact and I love how he works to accelerate his feet. He has sufficient power at the point of attack but he needs to stay committed to adding more functional strength to make him even more impactful. At this point, he does not project well to a gap blocking scheme.

Versatility: Burford is a four-year starter with about half of his time being spent at left tackle and the other half at left guard. He does have some experience playing left tackle but only in a few games back in 2020. He has the length and mobility to play tackle in the NFL and projects best to a zone-blocking run scheme.

SCOUT GRADES

TDN Consensus: 73.00/100 (Fourth Round Value)

Crabbs Grade: 71.00/100

Marino Grade: 73.50/100

Sanchez Grade: 74.50/100