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NFL Rumor Central: Ayers likens Spence to Von Miller

It's only the first week of organized team activities, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Robert Ayers likes what he's seen from rookie end Noah Spence.

Ayers told Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times that Spence "kind of reminds me, [based on] stature and watching his college film, he kinds of reminds me of Von Miller."

The comparison did come with a caveat however, as Ayers continued: "Miller was a 4.4 (40-yard) guy, though, so he's a little bit different, but their body language and their body movement, their build, their stature, their arm length and things like that, they're real similar. Von is a lot faster, but just the way they play and the way they do things is real similar."

Having played three seasons with Miller on the Denver Broncos, Ayers is quite familiar with the Super Bowl MVP's game, although saying Miller has 4.4 speed is just a tad generous. The Texas A&M product ran 4.53 at the 2011 combine -- still a blistering time that ranked second among all linebackers that year -- before going No. 2 overall in the 2011 draft to Denver.

Spence ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds at February's combine, and his lack of elite athleticism was one of the few knocks on his game during the draft process. However, Spence measured similarly (6-foot-2, 251 pounds, 33-inch arms) to Miller (6-foot-3, 246 pounds, 33 1/2-inch arms) at the combine, and his jumps were not too far off (35-inch vertical, 10-foot-1 broad for Spence; 37-inch vertical, 10-foot-6 broad for Miller).

So Ayers' comparison certainly has merit, and he's not the only one who praised Spence this week. Four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy told Auman on Wednesday that rushing the passer "is just in [Spence's] DNA," adding, "I'm very excited for the future to see what's to come."

OTAs in May are hardly the time to tout a player as a future star, but the positive impressions are a good sign for Spence as a rookie. As a defensive end, he might be tasked with more responsibility against the run than Miller -- a stand-up linebacker in a 4-3 before doing the same in a 3-4 -- but he should have plenty of opportunities to chase opposing QBs.

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