100 in 100: Brandon Spikes (7 of 100)
by Drew K on Jan 18, 2010 2:40 PM PST
in 100 in 100 (2010)
26 comments
Fooch's Note: For those expecting these at 1pm pacific every day, every once in a while we'll be bumping them around. However, they will usually be a regular occurrence at 1pm.
Ahh...Brandon Spikes... cousin to San Francisco 49ers Takeo Spikes. When Spikes isn't busy attempting to spike other players eyes out with his fingers, he's actually a heck of a football player. From his Freshman to Senior year, Spikes accumulated some fairly decent stats. His best season came as a Sophomore when he racked up 131 Tackles, a Sack, and a Forced Fumble. More recently he has been used more in coverages and things of that nature and is considered to be one of the more polished, well-rounded linebackers coming out. Spikes missed a few games this year for suspension when he tried to gouge out the eyes of Georgia Running Back Washaun Ealey. Although, this happens more frequently than is noted in both college and the pro's, Spikes has still been tagged as a dirty player because it was so vividly captured by a sideline camera man. However, Spikes owned up to his mistake and although Urban Meyer suspended Spikes for half a game, the Florida middle linebacker did not feel the punishment fit the crime and decided to suspend himself for longer.
Talent wise, Spikes is pretty versatile. He is one of the higher rated Linebackers coming in to the NFL this year. His tangibles range from great run support to dropping back in coverage to rushing the Quarterback. He is one of the quicker Linebackers at his position.
Below, we'll take a look at some of Spikes' accomplishments and highlights...
As the video displays, Spikes flies to the ball and has a natural instinct for making the tackle. He has big hitter capabilities and seems to enjoy putting the smack down on running backs.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
- October 9th, 2009 -- Mid-season All-American by Sporting News and CBS Sports
- 2 x First Team All-American (2008, 2009)
- 3 x First Team All-SEC (2007, 2008, 2009)
- 2 x BCS National Champion
CAREER STATS:
| Stats Overview | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 2006 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 131 | 81 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 87 | 48 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 93 | 23.3 | 52 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | 52 | 26 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 23.0 | 41 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 Regular Season Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| DATE | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 9/5 | Charleston Southern | W 62-3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9/12 | Troy | W 56-6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9/19 | Tennessee | W 23-13 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9/26 | @Kentucky | W 41-7 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/10 | @LSU | W 13-3 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/17 | Arkansas | W 23-20 | Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats. | |||||||||||||
| 10/24 | @Mississippi State | W 29-19 | Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats. | |||||||||||||
| 10/31 | Georgia | W 41-17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 11/7 | Vanderbilt | W 27-3 | Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats. | |||||||||||||
| 11/14 | @South Carolina | W 24-14 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/21 | FIU | W 62-3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 41.0 | 41 | 1 | 1 |
| 11/28 | Florida State | W 37-10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12/5 | @Alabama | L 32-13 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 Postseason Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| BOWL | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL | Cincinnati | W 51-24 | Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats. | |||||||||||||
SUMMARY AND PROJECTION:
Spikes is considered to be one of the best linebackers in college football. The projections for Spikes for the most part have been late 1st round to early second round. However, I have seen him being selected alot higher in some mock drafts. There will be some teams looking for LB's in the 1st round and I see Spikes as the 3rd, possibly 2nd best Linebacker on the board depending on how he does at the NFL Combine and the Senior Bowl.
Possibilities -- If he goes in the 1st, Broncos, Dolphins, Titans, Jaguars, Giants, Falcons, Eagles
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Wouldnt it be great...
to have two Spikes on the team? Not that i am saying its a need. but if he works as hard as his cousin it would be a good fit (minus the finger gouging of course).
my question is does he really fit as a ted linebacker. I can’t really imagine him playing second fiddle to anyone. especially not for a long portion of his career. One of his top attributes is the extent to which he was the leader of a great florida defense. his leadership would be going to waste at the ted linebacker spot on the 49ers.
just look at baltimore
for years they had ray lewis and bart scott playing inside next to each other. the role spikes would play is the same one scott played. the ravens were able to bounce lewis and scott back and forth and really confuse offenses. if spikes would be able to accept that role it could really take our defense to the next level
by monkey spanker on Jan 18, 2010 3:22 PM PST up reply actions
I cannot gush enough about this guy
He is so versatile, so good! He’s been all honors in the SEC for 2/3 seasons so there is no doubt that he can perform at a consistent level in the Pros.
Great defenses have a great linebackers. Patrick Willis needs a running mate for the rest of his career. Brandon Spikes appears to be the perfect fit next to Willis at the weak side linebacker spot. He can cover, he can run sideline to sideline, he’s makes freak athletic plays and easily become the emotional leader of the defense, one item I think the 49ers defense is sourly missing.
I really hope he’s one of the two 1st round picks. He’ll have an immediate impact and will be the star down the road for the franchise.
While I agree with all your points, I have to disagree that it would be a very good pick to spend with one of our first’s unless we addressed our Oline in free agency and beefed up our horrible offense as well in free agency. I still think Scott McKillop can be a Bill Romanowski type of guy which would be great as well.
I wish Patrick Willis would take control of the team as the emotional leader but I think he is just too modest and quite of a guy. His play is loud but he is rarely emotional. Kind of like a Barry Sanders; could have been a great leader but just was quite and went out there and gave it his all. I think eventually a guy like Goldson could fill that emotional team leader role… he seems to get amped up alot.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
I wonder if that's one of the reasons Goldson got the green dot
maybe he was stepping into that leadership role more than Patrick Willis was?
Yes Drew K, Tim Tebow will get picked in the first round.
Could be
but it also had to do with Willis not being able to adjust or get the calls back to the secondary in enough time. But Goldson I think has that “leadership” quality about him. He may step up and just take it next season.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
Ca'nt wait 2 next season
Just wanted 2 bust in you’re conversation 2 say isn’t cool 2 even have these conversation about how good are deffense is and how good it’s going 2 be me honestly would 2 have brandon spikes now as high as our first 2 picks but like you said if we address our OL problems in free agency and get someone like logan mankins or marcus mcneil thense en yea ill grab brandon spikes or deffense has a family type of fill and i thinks brings us closer and better.
by jayjonna415 on Feb 12, 2010 10:50 AM PST up reply actions
I can only see one of the two 1st round picks being offensive line. The 49ers only need one OT and picking a 1st Round guard while the draft is chalked full of talent at other positions seems a bit foolish to me and not McC’s MO.
I’m not a Scott McKillop fan. No matter how hard he plays or the instincts he has one crippling weakness I don’t think he’ll ever overcome his lack of speed. He couldn’t keep pace with 3rd string NFL talent in coverage and struggled to close off the sidelines.
No matter what, I believe we need to shore up that offense. It was one of the worst in the NFL. I don’t want to see a 1st round pick wasted on something that is one of our strengths. We need to find our weaknesses and fill those at high priority. LB is just not a huge need this season. Between T. Spikes, Wilhelm and McKillop, I think we are fine at that position. I don’t recall McKillop struggling in preseason and in fact thought he flew to the ball and did quite well.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
Just a TV observation
But it appears that Spikes (the current one) is NOT faster than McKillop!
So what separates McClain from him? Seems they both are stud linebackers, what puts McClain over him?
Also known to haunt as theghostoftravisdenker and theaccidentalghostofsergioromo.
by theghostofjasonellison on Jan 18, 2010 5:30 PM PST reply actions
McClain has much better stats. McClain was a finalist for the Butkus award. McClain projects to be faster.
Senior year stats for McClain—105 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 FF, 2 INTs
Career numbers for McClain—270 tackles, 8 sacks, 1 FF, 5 INTs.
Spikes is probably the #1 senior linebacker, but McClain is easily the #1 overall LB coming out.
Yes Drew K, Tim Tebow will get picked in the first round.
I haven’t watched McClain play and am looking forward to the highlight video. My endorsement of Spikes is primarily due to knowing he would be a natural NFL weak side linebacker which is the position open on the 49ers. I’d like to see if McClain is more of a middle linebacker.
McClain plays in a 3-4 right now and makes all the defensive calls and audibles
I wouldn’t mind taking McClain in the first if he fell to us. That would be a defense that would strike terror into the heart of offensive coordinators.
Yes Drew K, Tim Tebow will get picked in the first round.
So is Spikes more of an OLB while McClain is an ILB? I agree, McClain easily has the best stats and watching his bowl game, he seemed to have great instincts, but I’ve never seen Spikes play
Also known to haunt as theghostoftravisdenker and theaccidentalghostofsergioromo.
by theghostofjasonellison on Jan 18, 2010 6:05 PM PST up reply actions
I dunno
But I would not favor McClain if he was more of an inside linebacker. LB corps do better with varied skill sets.
Hm maybe, Aaron Curry was supposed to be a pretty versatile LB but he didn’t have the best first year. Could you see Patrick Willis playing at OLB?
Also known to haunt as theghostoftravisdenker and theaccidentalghostofsergioromo.
by theghostofjasonellison on Jan 18, 2010 6:27 PM PST up reply actions
No, Spikes like Willis isn’t an OLB either. Weak side linebacker is still an inside linebacker but takes on more varied assignments like coverage, blitzing and occasional outside contain.
The Mike linebacker, which is what Willis plays is primary responsible for stopping anything with the ball coming between the tackles. Singletary himself was a pure Mike linebacker. The responsibility of the Mike linebacker is 1st the run, 2nd the run, 3rd the run and 4th lets get fancy. The weak side linebacker’s 1st responsibility is the run but than the 2nd might be coverage or whatever defensive games the coordinator wants to add to the game plan.
Ah my bad, I always thought weak side linebacker was like what Manny Lawson played, it’s more the ted then. Thanks for the info, good to know
Also known to haunt as theghostoftravisdenker and theaccidentalghostofsergioromo.
by theghostofjasonellison on Jan 18, 2010 6:55 PM PST up reply actions
is that for a 4-3 or 3-4
that sounds like a great cliffs notes version of 4-3 linebackers, but with a 3-4 system it always seems like with the 2 ILB one takes on blockers more while the other becomes more free to run and just follow the ball and make plays. I could be wrong, but what could help us is a big, strong guy like spikes would be that both him and willis could play both positions, creating confusion and giving us more options to be creative with the defense
by monkey spanker on Jan 18, 2010 8:36 PM PST up reply actions
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