Clemson's Baylon Spector selected in NFL draft seventh round by Bills |
Former Clemson linebacker
Baylon Spector was selected with the No. 231 overall pick in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
"As you saw at the Combine, he can really run. You don’t see many guys his size that can run like that. Very athletic. Baylon is a true Will [linebacker] that can really cover and play on the edge but also can move in and play Mike," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said via news release. "I think that he’s got outstanding Day 1 potential with his size, with his speed, with his experience, with his knowledge of the game, but also his ability to be a Day 1 starter on special teams on all core teams. Another graduate, a fifth-year player that has a ton of championship experience that he’ll bring with him." Spector was credited with 210 career tackles (22.0 for loss), 9.0 sacks, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, three pass breakups and an interception in 1,456 snaps over 53 games as a Tiger (21 starts). Spotrac estimates a $3.8 million contract with a $104K signing bonus for the draft slot. Spector was rated coming in as the No. 355 overall draft prospect and the No. 31 inside linebacker by ESPN. Spector is Clemson's second NFL draft selection after Andrew Booth went on Friday in the second round to the Minnesota Vikings (No. 42 overall). Clemson had only one draft selection in the top-200 picks for the first time since 2001. Spector draft notes (via Clemson) Spector became the 71st player to have played for Head Coach Dabo Swinney to be drafted into the NFL, including the sixth seventh-round pick of Swinney’s tenure. Spector became the 30th Clemson linebacker selected in the Common Draft era and the sixth Clemson linebacker selected since 2015. Spector became the first Clemson linebacker to be selected in the seventh round since eventual All-Rookie selection Kavell Conner was selected by the Colts in the seventh round in the 2010 NFL Draft. Conner served as an unpaid coaching intern on Clemson’s staff last season and is now in a defensive player development role at Clemson. Spector became the second Clemson player ever to be selected with the No. 231 overall pick in an NFL Draft, joining LB O.J. Childress (Giants, 1999). T Ron Osborne was selected by the Houston Oilers with the No. 231 overall pick in the 1962 AFL Draft. Spector became the 13th player to be selected by the Bills in a professional draft, including two selections in the AFL Draft, one selection in the AFL Redshirt Draft and 10 selections in the NFL Draft. Previous Bills selections from Clemson include T Lou Cordileone (1960 AFL), T Harold Olson (1960 AFL), T John Boyette (1965 AFL Redshirt), WR Jerry Butler (1979), WR Perry Tuttle (1982), RB C.J. Spiller (2010), T Chris Hairston (2011), S Jonathan Meeks (2013), WR Sammy Watkins (2014), LB Tony Steward (2015), DE Shaq Lawson (2016) and WR Ray-Ray McCloud (2018). Our last pick of the 2022 Draft. ??BUFFALO BOUND??
LB Baylon Spector is Buffalo bound! #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/LasTBfpUlI
Baylon Spector is headed to Buffalo! pic.twitter.com/JdP1MdKRVP
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now