Offensive lineman Spencer Pulley ranks 95th on our list of the 100 best Commodore athletes we've covered.
Honors and awards: 2014 Rimington Trophy preseason watch list
2015 Rimington Trophy preseason watch list
In the VU record book: Pulley does not appear on any single-season or career charts.
Before VU: Pulley was a three-year starter at offensive tackle for Memphis-area power Evangelical Christian School. He was named Division II-A Mr. Football as the state's top lineman as a senior and was a first-team all-state pick. He also played defensive end, and accumulated 29 tackles and 11 sacks. Played in the Tennessee East-West All-Star Game and also lettered three years in track in the throwing sports.
Freshman (2011): Pulley was one of five true freshmen to play. He saw action in six games as a reserve offensive guard and special-teams player.
Redshirt sophomore (2012): Started the first (South Carolina), second (Northwestern), fifth (Missouri) and sixth (Florida) games. Received a medical redshirt due to playing in just four contests.
Sophomore (2013): Started all 13 games at right guard. Had 46 knock-down blocks for a team that went 9-4 and averaged 367 yards and 30.1 points per contest.
Junior (2014): Started all 12 games at right guard. VU credited him with 28 pancake blocks and another 10 domination blocks. Pro Football Focus graded Pulley at "82.7" as a pass blocker, and "69.2" in the running game. Pulley was charged with just one penalty all season.
Senior (2015): Moved to center in spring and started all 12 games there despite playing hurt. PFF assigned Pulley a grade of "87.2" for pass-blocking, and "82.8" for his work as a run blocker. Pulley was again charged with just one penalty all season.
Post-VU: Pulley wasn't drafted in 2016, but inked a free-agent contract with the Chargers, and has had a nice four-year career (and counting) in the NFL, the last two coming with the Giants. Pulley has played 49 games and started 26.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Pulley didn't get much attention (not unusual for a Vanderbilt player, or an offensive lineman) but his ability to make multiple NFL rosters (and hold down a starting role for the better part of two seasons) shines light on the talent.
While PFF isn't infallible, its 84.3 grade for Pulley's 2015 campaign is the second-highest single-season grade for any Commodore with any amount of snaps. (Ke'Shawn Vaughn's 88.5 for 2018 tops the list.) Pulley graded well in both the run and passing games in the two seasons that PFF graded Commodore players, and Pulley was credited with just two penalties over those two years. Furthermore, Pulley graded well at two positions (center, right guard) over that time.
Throw in a large body of work (41 straight starts), the perseverance to play through injuries, leadership abilities (if you want to know who VU's leaders are, look at who they put in front of the media often--and we saw a lot of Pulley), that he had a hand in one of the most successful football seasons in school history (2013) and was a starter in another when he wasn't hurt (2012) and it's hard to argue that Pulley has a place in our VandySports 100.
