Drake Spears: LB · Western Michigan · #20.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Drake Spears
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Played for two head coaches at Western Michigan: P.J. Fleck and Tim Lester. The first career honor came in 2019: All-MAC. A game that shows it: 11 tackles and 1 INT against Toledo — Week 6, 2019.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
96 tackles. 2 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 2.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Western Michigan | 96 | 35 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2018 | Western Michigan | 86 | 53 | 10.0 | 2.0 | -- | 1 |
| 2017 | Western Michigan | 31 | 19 | 2.5 | 1.0 | -- | -- |
| 2016 | Western Michigan | 10 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 223 | 114 | 15.0 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-13vs Monmouth | 7 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 17-51@ No. 19 Michigan State | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 57-10vs Georgia State | 7 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 33-52@ Syracuse | 9 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 31-15vs Central Michigan | 8 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 24-31@ Toledo | 11 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 7 | W 38-16vs Miami (OH) | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 27-34@ Eastern Michigan | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 49-10vs Bowling Green | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 35-31vs Ball State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 37-34@ Ohio | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | L 14-17@ Northern Illinois | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 20-23vs Western Kentucky | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 96 | 35 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
96tackles this seasonTFL rate
3%2 TFLSack rate
1%0 sacksPD rate
2%2 pass breakups96 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 0.5 sacks · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 7.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 7.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 8.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 6.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Lester
Pass share
45.4%
413 pass / 497 run
Plays / game
70.0
13 games
Team sack rate
4.0%
448 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2019
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
How it ended
Four seasons at Western Michigan, 223 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 41 games over four seasons.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM
All-MAC 2nd team (2019)
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: P.J. Fleck → Tim Lester. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
