Spencer
Brown.
Spencer
Brown.
Northern Iowa
"A 6'8" Northern Iowa right tackle with plus arm length (35 3/4") and plus mobility, but zero FBS reps — the class's classic small-school OT project."Pre-draft read
Spencer Brown (RT) excels with length, athleticism, and heavy hands, compensating for less refined technique. In the run game, he covers guards on outside zone, climbs to second-level linebackers with control, and finishes blocks with mass. His size-movement profile allows him to reach play-side edges, making him effective in outside-zone schemes.
In pass protection, he uses a wide-base, catch-and-mirror technique. His arm length keeps speed rushers at bay, and his two-hand independence has developed to shut down single-move rushes. However, his tall pad level makes him vulnerable to leverage bull rushes and long-arm counters. His hand timing on the second punch can be late against chained moves, and he inconsistently anchors against power, occasionally losing to inside counters.
Shanahan outside zone schemes that prioritize length and athleticism at tackle by running away from their right tackle's side.
Year 1 starter at RT in a wide-zone or gap-scheme system, with the potential to develop into an All-Pro caliber bookend due to his unique physical traits.
Any system that relies on its right tackle to anchor against bull rushes without outside-zone elements that let him operate on the move.
Brown excels in schemes that leverage his rare frame and movement skills in the run game, making him a versatile fit for various NFL offensive line approaches, provided his technique can be polished.
Spencer Brown, UNI Football Offensive Lineman — 2019
Full 2019 Northern Iowa cutup — the only healthy FCS starting season NFL scouts had to evaluate the length, reach ability and finishing power.
Spencer Brown Scouting Report and Highlights
Pre-draft scouting cutup framing the projection — length, movement, hand-timing flags — that landed him in the late-second-to-fourth-round consensus band.
The highs and lows of Bills RT Spencer Brown's rookie season
Rookie-year retrospective on the Bills tape — the pass-protection wins and pad-level losses that framed the development arc into a full-time NFL starter.
Spencer Brown projected as a developmental offensive tackle with rare physical tools. His 6'8", 311-pound frame with 34-inch arms, combined with his athleticism confirmed by his pro-day workout, made him an appealing prospect for teams willing to invest in raw talent. He was seen as a physical, mobile right tackle prospect whose technique required significant coaching.
Brown's college career was marked by a limited body of work due to a redshirt-freshman knee injury, one full starting season in 2019, and opting out of the 2020 season. He was a converted tight end who had added significant mass, showing an athletic history that suggested a higher ceiling than typical FCS linemen. He earned second-team All-MVFC honors in 2019 for his performance at Northern Iowa.
Evaluators noted his raw technique and the lower level of competition he faced as primary concerns, limiting confidence despite his tools. The draft consensus placed him in the late second to fourth-round range, acknowledging the trade-off between his rare physical upside and his unrefined mechanics. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 93rd pick.
- 01
Rare Length & Frame
His arm length keeps speed rushers from gaining the edge and turning the corner against him.
- 02
Movement Athleticism
Pro-day testing confirmed movement skill allowing him to reach play-side edges in outside-zone schemes.
- 03
Functional Run Power
Functional power and heavy hands allow him to finish blocks consistently on second-level climbs.
- 04
Athletic Upside
Converted tight end shows footwork, body control, and comfort in space, indicating a higher ceiling.
- 05
Character & Work Ethic
Adding 80 pounds and seeking pre-draft prep reflects high coachability and work ethic.
- 01
Level of Competition
Faced limited competition in the MVFC, not Power-5 counters, which raises concerns for evaluators.
- 02
Technique Rawniness
His naturally tall pad level makes him vulnerable to leverage loss against bull rushes.
- 03
Inconsistent Hands
Hand timing is inconsistent, allowing inside counters to cross his face on chained moves.
- 04
Limited Body of Work
Less than 20 college starts due to injury and opt-out limits the sample size available for evaluation.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Northern Iowa | 13 |
| 2018 | Northern Iowa | 13 |
| 2019 | Northern Iowa | 15 |
| Career | — | 41 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Developmental FCS/small-school right tackle who grew into a several-year Pittsburgh starter on the strength of length and functional power, then locked in a modest second contract — the exact projection band Buffalo drafted Brown into at #93.
Long, movement-first right tackle whose run-game reach ability and lower-body athleticism outrun his technique polish year to year; McGlinchey's multi-year starter career at a premium second-contract price is the realistic upside outcome Brown has now cashed.
Long-armed swing tackle whose NFL role never scaled past spot-start depth and injury coverage; the outcome if Brown's technique polish and health had not caught up to his physical tools in years two and three.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Hit. Rotational Year 1, full-time RT starter from Year 2 onward, top-30 PFF RT grade 2023-24. Signed 4-year, $56M extension with Buffalo in 2024. Small-school project that developed into a starter — great Round-3 value.
**Pre-draft context.** Spencer Brown arrived at the 2021 NFL Draft as one of the most projection-heavy offensive tackle evaluations in the class. A 6'8", 311-pound Northern Iowa product from tiny Lenox, Iowa (population ~1,400), Brown had converted from tight end to tackle as a college freshman, adding nearly 80 pounds of mass across two redshirt years before starting for the Panthers in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. His body of work was thin by NFL standards — an early season-ending knee injury as a redshirt freshman, one full FCS starting season in 2019 (second-team All-MVFC), and no 2020 tape after he opted out of the spring-2020 schedule to prepare for the draft. But the tools were unmistakable: 6'8" with 34-inch arms, 500-pound bench press strength, plus-tier movement skills for the frame and a pro-day workout that pushed his stock. NFL.com, PFF and The Athletic bracketed him in the late-second-to-fourth-round band with development caveats: raw technique, no Power-5 tape, and legitimate questions about how the balance and hand timing would scale.
**NFL fit — Buffalo Bills.** The Buffalo organization took Brown at #93 as a developmental right-tackle project behind Daryl Williams, with their offensive-line room built to teach him the finer points at NFL pace. The fit was philosophical: the team wanted a long, mobile bookend to keep Josh Allen clean on rollouts and wide-zone action, and Brown's frame plus lower-body athleticism fit that vision cleanly. He was promoted to the starting lineup in October of his rookie year, then spent 2021–2022 cycling through inconsistent and injury-shortened stretches (never more than 14 starts in a season). The breakthrough came in 2023: 17 starts at right tackle, one of the league's highest play-based pay incentives among linemen, and a full transition from developmental swing tackle to entrenched starter. Buffalo answered by signing him to a four-year extension in September 2024 through the 2028 season, locking in the bookend of Allen's supporting cast.
**Retrospective.** Five years into the pick, Brown is a legitimate hit for a #93 selection. Through 2025 he has appeared in 73 games with 69 starts, all with Buffalo, and has anchored the right side of a top-10 pass-protection line during the Bills' AFC-contending window. He is not an All-Pro and probably will not be — technique polish and pass-set nuance remain the ceiling caps every scout flagged pre-draft — but the outcome is exactly what a projection at that slot is supposed to deliver: a multi-year starter on a modest second contract at a premium position. Against the 2021 third round the pick sits comfortably in the upper tier of value returned, behind only the round's outliers (Creed Humphrey at 63, Amon-Ra St. Brown at 112).