90 players in 90 days: Offensive tackle Spencer Brown

The Buffalo Bills have made a habit of amassing offensive line talent during general manager Brandon Beane’s tenure. Whether through the draft of free-agent signings, Beane has ensured that the Bills have quality depth in the trenches to protect their investment in franchise quarterback Josh Allen.

Even when the team has strong starting players, Beane has not hesitated to improve the reserves throughout his time. After all, every team is one injury away from having to play someone that they’d prefer not to play. Beane has made sure that those players are still talented enough to contribute.

In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile a rookie who has a great shot at being the team’s swing tackle on game days this year.

Name: Spencer Brown

Number: 79

Position: OT

Height/Weight: 6’8” 311 lbs

Age: 23 (24 on 2/28/2022)

Experience/Draft: R; selected by the Bills in the third round (No. 93 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft

College: Northern Iowa

Acquired: Third-round draft choice

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Brown is currently unsigned; Spotrac estimates that his rookie deal will be a four-year pact with a 2021 cap hit of $879,036.

2020 Recap: Brown did not play college football in 2020, as the UNI program elected to delay its football season until the spring and Brown elected to enter the NFL Draft. He instead worked out with Joe Staley, a 13-year veteran and six-time Pro Bowl tackle who last played with the San Francisco 49ers in 2019, during the offseason to prepare for the NFL Draft. In 2019, Brown was named Second-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference at right tackle.

Positional outlook: Brown will compete for the swing tackle job behind incumbent starters Dion Dawkins and Daryl Williams at left and right tackle, respectively. Bobby Hart and Tommy Doyle are the other players listed as offensive tackles, while Ryan Bates, Jordan Devey, Jamil Douglas, and Cody Ford are listed as offensive linemen on the team’s official roster.

2021 Offseason: Brown is participating in OTAs.

2021 Season outlook: Well, the last time a guy named Brown wore number 79 for the Bills, he turned out to be pretty great, as Ruben Brown made eight consecutive Pro Bowl teams with the Bills in the late 90s and early 2000s. While Spencer Brown isn’t going to slide into a starting role, ideally, as a rookie, the Bills can only hope that his career is as long and as fruitful as Ruben Brown’s was. Without much veteran competition, it looks like the swing tackle gig is Brown’s to lose this summer.