Anthony Spencer on his transition to the NFL and playing LB in the 3-4 defense.
While Spencer admits he has received advice from both players, he said there are still several aspects of the transition that he has yet to master.
"Right now, it's just the stance and the get-off," Spencer said. "That's really the most important part when you get to the game. It's just learning that and being able to get off on the ball and roll onto your front foot and know where the football is and to be there fast. That's really the most difficult part of it."
By the way, we have a little Purdue Boilermakers clique forming out at Valley Ranch.
"This defense is going to make a lot of plays. It's similar to what we did in college."
And that could be a good thing, considering Spencer is now the third former Purdue standout on defense, joining linebacker Akin Ayodele and cornerback Jacques Reeves. Spencer said he first met Ayodele a week before the draft when the two were on the sidelines of Purdue's spring scrimmage.
"When I first got here, we had a team meeting and I had nowhere to sit," Spencer recalled. "But (Ayodele and Reeves) called me over because they were sitting together. So I just sat with them. That definitely helped me out."
Merrill Hoge and Joe Theismann rank the NFC East by best offense, best defense and best team. Both ex-players ranked the Eagles as the top offense in the division and both ranked the Cowboys as the best defense. While Theismann picked the Eagles as the best team in the division, Hoge went with the Cowboys.
Hoge: Cowboys
This is a very flawed division, and it pales in comparison with years past, so I have to give it to Dallas. Every team in this division has major question marks on both sides of the ball, but Dallas seems more comfortable with its system than the other teams, and I feel the transition from Bill Parcells to Wade Phillips will be easy for this team.
Poor New York and Washington, they got nary a mention.
Wade is a chip off the old block, but Bum had other interests, Wade only loves football.