via vmedia.rivals.com
Clay Spencer
Baton Rouge, LA
Parkview Baptist High School
6'6" 285#

This is Clay Spencer.  He was the very first commitment of the 2008 signing class.  He's a local kid, straight out of Parkview Baptist High School, the same school that produced Darry Beckwith.  I understand he has some family connections to the LSU football program as well.  Rivals has him listed as a 4-star offensive guard.  Scout has him as a 3-star guard.

With Spencer, I can repeat almost verbatim what I wrote about Lonergan.  He committed early and never wavered.  He's a pure guard who is not going to play on the outside at all.  He's a big, strong kid who probably has a ways to go physically in the weight room.  Like with Lonergan, there is not much film of Spencer, and what there is available is only from his junior year.

But we have to analyze what we're given.  Like with Lonergan, he's strong on the point of attack, but there is no film of him pass-blocking.  There also isn't any film of him pulling out and getting out in front of a downfield play.  He may be an even bigger mystery than Lonergan.

Les Miles, however, thought enough of Clay Spencer to ask him to be our first commitment, and I assure you Les knows a lot more about Spencer than we do.  This is one of those cases where we are just going to have to trust Les Miles, and I am of the opinion that he has earned our trust.

Spencer has a long way to go, of course.  He's behind other young guards like Josh Dworaczyk, Ernest McCoy, and Will Blackwell, but he will have an opportunity to sit for a while and learn to round out his game before anything is expected of him.  I would expect a redshirt year followed by a substantial understudy period for Clay Spencer.  That makes him a project.