:Spencer Drango
{{Short description|American football player (born 1992)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Spencer Drango
| image = Spencer Drango.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Drango with the Cleveland Browns in 2017
| current_team =
| number = 66, 74
| position = Offensive guard / tackle
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1992|10|15}}
| birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 6
| weight_lbs = 315
| high_school = Cedar Park {{nowrap|(Cedar Park, Texas)}}
| college = Baylor (2011–2015)
| draftyear = 2016
| draftround = 5
| draftpick = 168
| pastteams =
- Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|2016}}–{{NFL Year|2017}})
- Los Angeles Chargers ({{NFL Year|2018}}–{{NFL Year|2019}})
| status =
| highlights = ;College
- 2× Consensus All-American (2014, 2015)
- 2× Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year (2014, 2015)
- 3× First-team All-Big 12 (2013, 2014, 2015)
- Freshman All-American (2012)
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 32
| statlabel2 = Games started
| statvalue2 = 19
| pfr = DranSp00
}}
Spencer Joseph Drango (born October 15, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears. A Freshman All-American in 2012, Drango was considered one of the best offensive tackles in his class.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2016/OT| title=cbssports: prospect rankings}} He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Early life
A native of Austin, Texas, Drango attended Cedar Park High School, where he was an All-State offensive lineman. As senior, he registered 144 knockdowns while not allowing a sack, helping Cedar Park to a 13–1 record and UIL quarterfinals, where they lost 21–20 to Michael Brewer's Austin Lake Travis.{{cite news |title=Lake Travis beats Cedar Park 21-20 |work=Lake Travis View |date=December 4, 2010 |url=http://archive.laketravisview.com/2010/12/04/lake-travis-beats-cedar-park-21-20/ }}
Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Drango was listed as the No. 23 offensive tackle prospect in 2011.{{Cite web |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-2654 |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 8, 2015 |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405014357/https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-2654 |url-status=dead }} He picked Baylor over offers from Arkansas, Louisiana State, Stanford, and Texas.
College career
After redshirting his initial year at Baylor, Drango took over from Cyril Richardson as starting left tackle for the Bears in 2012. He started all 13 games and was named Freshman All-American by Scout/FoxSports (first-team) and Phil Steele (second-team).
Midway through his sophomore season, Drango had back surgery for a ruptured disk, but Baylor athletic trainer Jacob Puente helped him recover so he could play football once again.{{cite news |url=http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/injury-bug-strikes-again-baylor-loses-spencer-drango-one-of-the-teams-best-linemen-to-back-injury.html/?nclick_check=1 |title=Injury bug strikes again: Baylor loses Spencer Drango, one of the team's best linemen, to back injury |newspaper=Dallas Morning-News |date=November 19, 2013 }}{{cite news |url=http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/baylor/football/baylor-football-drango-s-injury-leaves-more-big-shoes-to/article_c3637560-4488-5bba-9820-1052ca7ff88c.html |title=Drango's injury leaves more big shoes to fill |newspaper=Waco Tribune |date=November 20, 2013 }}
In his senior year, Drango had the highest pass-blocking efficiency in college football according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed only three quarterback hurries, and just a single quarterback hit—against Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah—all season, giving him a nation-leading 99.2 pass blocking efficiency.{{cite news |title=Superlatives for the 2015 college football season |date=December 9, 2015 |work=Pro Football Focus |url=https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/12/09/college-superlatives-for-the-2015-college-football-season/ }}
Professional career
=Pre-draft=
Coming out of college, Drango was projected to go anywhere from the fourth to the seventh round by NFL analysts. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the 19th best guard in the 2016 NFL draft. He played in the Senior Bowl and reportedly met with representatives from the Chicago Bears.{{cite web|url=https://www.windycitygridiron.com/platform/amp/2016/1/25/10829460/chicago-bears-nfl-draft-baylor-offensive-lineman-spencer-drango-senior-bowl| title=Bears talk with Baylor offensive lineman Spencer Drango at Senior Bowl| access-date=December 7, 2016| website=windycitygridiron.com| author=Lester Wiltfong Jr.| date=January 25, 2016}} While teams were fond of his upper body strength, ability to play in space, quality pass protection technique, and his quality setup in pass sets many pegged him as an eventual NFL backup or low-end starter with sloppy hand placement during blocks with a predictable punch in pass protection. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine and put up decent numbers in the positional drills and workouts. At Baylor's annual Pro Day, he decided to stand on his combine numbers and only participate in positional drills. 61 scouts and representatives, including Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien, from all 32 NFL teams came to watch Drango, Corey Coleman, Shawn Oakman, Xavien Howard, Andrew Billings, and 11 other prospects workout.{{cite web| url=http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/031616aad.html| title=Football holds 2016 Pro Day| access-date=December 7, 2016| website=baylorbears.com| archive-date=December 1, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032054/http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/031616aad.html| url-status=dead}} Although Drango was a top 10 tackle at Baylor each of the past two seasons, almost all analysts pegged him as an offensive guard in the NFL.{{cite web|url=http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=119812&draftyear=2016&genpos=OT| title=Spencer Drango, DS #19 OG, Baylor: 2016 NFL Draft| access-date=December 7, 2016| website=nfldraftscout.com}}
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 5 5/8
| weight = 315
| dash = 5.27
| ten split = 1.85
| twenty split = 3.06
| shuttle = 4.66
| cone drill = 7.88
| broad ft = 8
| broad in = 4
| bench = 30
| arm span = 33 3/4
| hand span = 9 1/2
| note = All values from NFL Combine{{cite web|url=https://www.nfl.com/prospects/spencer-drango/32194452-4147-2970-23af-edda5c84dfc1 |title=NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Spencer Drango |publisher=National Football League }}
}}
=Cleveland Browns=
Drango was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round (168th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft.{{cite news|last=Labbe|first=Dan|title=Cleveland Browns select Baylor guard Spencer Drango with pick No. 168 in the 2016 NFL Draft|work=The Plain Dealer|date=April 30, 2016|access-date=August 28, 2016|url=http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/04/cleveland_browns_select_baylor.html}} On May 13, he signed a four-year contract worth about $2.55 million, which included a signing bonus worth about $207,000.{{cite web|last=Pokorny|first=Chris|title=Cleveland Browns sign 5th round draft pick, OL Spencer Drango|website=DawgsByNature.com|date=May 14, 2016|access-date=August 28, 2016|url=http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2016/5/14/11674762/cleveland-browns-sign-5th-round-draft-pick-ol-spencer-drango|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|title=Spencer Drango|website=OvertheCap.com|date=2016|access-date=August 28, 2016|url=http://overthecap.com/player/spencer-drango/4881/}} Drango began training camp practicing at right guard but was immediately moved to right tackle and competed with rookie Shon Coleman for the backup right tackle position behind Austin Pasztor. He ended up winning the backup left tackle position behind Pro-bowl veteran Joe Thomas.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/archive/188/CLE| title=Ourlads.com: Cleveland Browns depth chart| access-date=December 7, 2016| website=ourlads.com}}
On September 18, 2016, Drango earned his first career start against the Baltimore Ravens after the Browns decided to start him as an extra lineman to begin the game. On November 10, 2016, he started at right guard against the Ravens after Joel Bitonio was unable to play after suffering an injury. He started the next three games after winning the job over veteran Alvin Bailey.{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/roster/spencer-drango/7a33e91a-4c14-4d6e-8402-0b6a907b9e3e/| title=Cleveland Browns: Spencer Drango| access-date=December 7, 2016| website=Cleveland browns.com}} Drango finished his rookie season by playing all 16 games with 9 starts.
On October 22, 2017, Browns starting left tackle Joe Thomas went down with a torn triceps injury after he had played 10,363 consecutive offensive snaps. The injury would require season-ending surgery. On October 23, 2017, Browns head coach Hue Jackson stated that Drango would start at left tackle in place of Thomas.
Drango was waived by the Browns on September 1, 2018.{{cite web|title=Browns announce 53-man roster|url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-announce-53-man-roster|author=Gribble, Andrew|website=ClevelandBrowns.com|date=September 1, 2018}}
=Los Angeles Chargers=
On September 18, 2018, Drango was signed to the practice squad of the Los Angeles Chargers.{{cite web|title=Chargers sign offensive lineman to practice squad|url=https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/18/chargers-sign-offensive-lineman-to-practice-squad/|work=Chargers Wire|publisher=USA Today|date=September 18, 2018}} He signed a reserve/future contract with the Chargers on January 17, 2019.{{cite web|title=Chargers sign OG Spencer Drango to futures contract|url=https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/17/chargers-sign-og-spencer-drango-to-futures-contract/|work=Chargers Wire|publisher=USA Today|date=January 17, 2019}}
On August 31, 2019, Drango was waived by the Chargers and signed to the practice squad the next day.{{cite web|title=Chargers Announce Roster Moves|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-announce-roster-moves-x6572|website=Chargers.com|date=August 31, 2019}}{{cite web|title=Chargers Announce Practice Squad|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-announce-practice-squad|website=Chargers.com|date=September 1, 2019}} He was promoted to the active roster on November 18, 2019.{{cite web|title=Chargers Promote G Spencer Drango to Active Roster|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-promote-g-spencer-drango-to-active-roster|website=Chargers.com|date=November 18, 2019}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commons}}
- {{Twitter}}
- [http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/spencer_drango_767497.html Baylor Bears bio]
{{2014 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{2015 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Browns2016DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drango, Spencer}}
Category:All-American college football players
Category:American football offensive tackles
Category:Baylor Bears football players
Category:Cleveland Browns players
Category:Los Angeles Chargers players
Category:People from Cedar Park, Texas
Category:Players of American football from Williamson County, Texas