#22

Tyjae Spears

Former running back at Tulane. 2022: 1,581 rushing yards, 19 rushing TD, 22 catches.

RB · Tulane · Jr. · #22

5′10″ · 195 lb · Ponchatoula, LA

CFB Index 94 · #1 of 317 RBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamTennessee — drafted 2023, Rd 3, Pick 18, #81 overall

Recruiting

3★

RB recruit

No. 1403 nationally · Signed with Ponchatoula

Statement game17 car · 205 yds · 4 TDvs USC (FBS) · W 46-45

Top 1% rushing TDs game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Tulane. 2022: 1,581 rushing yards, 19 rushing TD, 22 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Ponchatoula in 2019.
Drafted round 3 by the Tennessee in 2023.
Named AAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Tulane, 2,911 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — drafted at #81 overall by Tennessee.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20194 games

Recruited3-star out of Ponchatoula

202214 games

The role got bigger.

All-AACfirst
AAC Offensive Player of the Yearwinner

2023

Drafted by Tennesseeround 3, pick 81

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1403 national

CFB

College

Tulane

2019–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #81

Tennessee · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2022

1 coach

2019–2022

Willie Fritz

Tulane

Played his entire career under Willie Fritz.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

TennesseeEntering 4th NFL season

#81Rd 3 · Pick 18

TennesseeEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Willie Fritz — 27-24 over that span.

2019Tulane7-6HC: Willie Fritz · Run-heavy

2020Tulane6-6HC: Willie Fritz · Run-heavy

2021Tulane2-10HC: Willie Fritz · Run-leaning

2022Tulane12-2HC: Willie Fritz · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

94All-America level #1 of 317?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / carry (94th percentile). Strength: td rate (84th percentile). Concern: fumbles lost (4th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / carry#24 / 398 · 94th pct

7.3

TD rate#65 / 398 · 84th pct

7.8%

EPA / carry#73 / 398 · 82nd pct

0.33

Explosive rate#79 / 398 · 80th pct

10.2%

Success rate#198 / 398 · 50th pct

45.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#3 / 346 · 99th pct

Rush yards#5 / 346 · 99th pct

1581

Yards / carry#12 / 346 · 96th pct

6.9

Carries#17 / 346 · 95th pct

229

Rec yards#27 / 338 · 92nd pct

256

Long run#33 / 346 · 90th pct

Receptions#56 / 338 · 83rd pct

Fumbles lost#231 / 244 · 4th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

83rd → 82nd percentile

Success rate

35th → 50th percentile

Explosive rate

94th → 80th percentile

Yards / carry

91st → 94th percentile

TD rate

76th → 84th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 14 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home8g	101	6.8	1.1
Road6g	129	7.3	1.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-78g	83.5	5.3	1.5
Weeks 8+6g	152	9.4	1.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Will Hall

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #1 of 317 FBS backs by CFB Index Score.2022 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

94 · #1 of 317 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #1 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Tulane	229	1,581	6.9	19	--
2021	Tulane	129	863	6.7	9	--
2020	Tulane	37	275	7.4	2	--
2019	Tulane	32	192	6.0	1	--
Career		427	2,911	6.8	31	--

Season	Team
2022	Tulane	22	256	11.6	2	--
2021	Tulane	19	145	7.6	0	--
2020	Tulane	2	30	15.0	0	--
2019	Tulane	5	133	26.6	1	--
Career		48	564	11.8	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2022

W 17–10

at Kansas State

26 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With C. Glover — 41 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 61 LONG · M. Pratt — 176 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 60.9 · 87 rush yds (13 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · South Florida · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +6.08Tyjae Spears run for 75 yds for a TD, (Valentino Ambrosio KICK)
Week 14 · UCF · 2&5 · Q3 · EPA +5.13Tyjae Spears run for 60 yds for a TD (Valentino Ambrosio KICK)
Week 10 · Tulsa · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.22Tyjae Spears run for 55 yds to the Tulsa 23 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · UCF · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +4.09Tyjae Spears run for 56 yds to the UCF 26 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Southern Miss · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +4.01Tyjae Spears run for 34 yds for a TD, (Kriston Esnard KICK)
Week 11 · UCF · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.91Tyjae Spears run for 70 yds to the UCF 9 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · USC · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.78Tyjae Spears run for 62 yds to the USC 3 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · USC · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.36Tyjae Spears run for 47 yds to the USC 29 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Tulsa · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.29Tyjae Spears run for 34 yds for a TD, (Valentino Ambrosio KICK)
Week 13 · Cincinnati · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA +2.89Tyjae Spears run for 25 yds to the Cincy 45 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 14 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 42-10vs Massachusetts	12	57	4.8	3	12	Season-high 205 yds
Wk 2	W 52-0vs Alcorn State	5	8	1.6	0	9
Wk 3	W 17-10@ Kansas State	9	26	2.9	1	8
Wk 4	L 24-27vs Southern Miss	22	114	5.2	2	34
Wk 5	W 27-24@ Houston	14	54	3.9	0	23
Wk 6	W 24-9vs East Carolina	16	53	3.3	0	16
Wk 7	W 45-31@ South Florida	18	151	8.4	2	75	151-yard day
Wk 8	W 38-28vs Memphis	24	125	5.2	1	22
Wk 10	W 27-13@ Tulsa	14	157	11.2	1	55	157-yard day
Wk 11	L 31-38vs UCF	8	130	16.3	0	70
Wk 12	W 59-24vs SMU	13	121	9.3	2	48
Wk 13	W 27-24@ Cincinnati	35	181	5.2	2	25	181-yard day
Wk 14	W 45-28vs UCF	22	199	9.0	1	60	199-yard day
Bowl	W 46-45@ USC	17	205	12.1	4	62
Total		229	1581	7.0	19	75