Former Scout: Cowboys could draft Noah Spence fourth overall

A former NFL scout believes the Dallas Cowboys could consider selecting Eastern Kentucky defensive end Noah Spence fourth overall in next month’s draft.

This offseason has been filled by the speculation of whom the Dallas Cowboys will choose with the fourth overall selection in next month’s NFL Draft. With several needs to fill across their roster, the choices have been narrowed down to a handful of names.

Those top end prospects include players like Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey and North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. But former scout and current football analyst for DallasCowboys.com Bryan Broaddus believes the team may consider a name not many others have associated with the fourth overall selection: Eastern Kentucky defensive end Noah Spence.

"“[Noah] Spence to me seems like a guy,” Broaddus said during The Cowboys Break on Tuesday. “[The Cowboys] are on a fact finding mission right now for Spence. Folks, let me just tell you…get ready. Cause if they get stuck, and all the sudden it’s not [Joey] Bosa, it’s not [Jalen] Ramsey, it’s not this, it’s not that, it’s not a quarterback; Spence is going to come into play here. At four. Just get ready for it…if all the options you have are eliminated, all the best options are eliminated, then take the best player. And your taking the best pass rusher in the draft.”"

Spence has been climbing draft boards ever since he dominated during Senior Bowl practices in January. The former Buckeye was dismissed from Ohio State in 2014 after failing drug tests due to an addiction to Ecstacy, a problem he’d been struggling with since high school.

Despite attending and completing a drug-treatment program, Spence was banned from the Big Ten and opted to transfer to the FCS and Eastern Kentucky instead of entering the NFL Draft in an attempt to repair his damaged image. The gamble appears to have paid off as many analysts have now earmarked him as a solid first round selection.

But a poor showing at the NFL Scouting Combine last month, where Spence ran a pedestrian 4.80 in the forty, and considering reports of some very shaky team interviews, the 6-2, 251 pound pass rusher’s stock seemed to be falling again.

But it appears the Cowboys might consider drafting Spence high anyway. Especially if they think he’s the best pass rusher in this draft class. But as one NFL general manager told the NFL Network during the Scouting Combine, selecting a player with this young man’s background is mainly about trust.

If Dallas deems Spence trustworthy, and they also believe he is the defensive playmaker this team has been desperately missing, it would understandable if the Cowboys took a chance on him with the fourth overall pick next month.

Last season, Dallas ranked 25th in the NFL in sacks with a total of 31.0. That lack of pressure also aided in the Cowboys ending up dead last in total takeaways with a league-low 11 forced turnovers.

In 2015, Spence recorded 63 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks for Eastern Kentucky University. The junior also had 15 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and was named the Ohio Valley Conference’s co-Defensive Player of the Year.

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