2:09 PM Mon, Sep 08, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips Greg Ellis balked when asked to move from defensive end to outside linebacker a few years ago. You can imagine his initial reaction when asked to occasionally line up like a cornerback in the season opener. The Cowboys unveiled a new wrinkle by having Ellis line up across from Kellen Winslow on several occasions when the Browns TE was in the slot or split out wide. Ellis' primary job was to jam Winslow. "It's not my cup of tea, you know what I mean?" Ellis said this morning. "We don't want to duplicate that, but I think it did help us." It's certainly hard to argue with the results. Winslow, who caught five passes for 47 yards and a TD, was a nonfactor other than the Browns' lone touchdown drive. Wade Phillips mentioned that Winslow's catches, with one exception, came when the Cowboys didn't get a jam on him. On the other hand, Ellis can't put pressure on the passer if he's pretending to be a cornerback. "If that's what they want me to do, that's what I'll do," he said. "But obviously everybody knows where my heart is, and I hope that's where my body will be."
Hey Greg, maybe you didn't notice... but it worked. And you did pretty good at it. What you did poorly on, however, was providing pressure. Considering the protection was shifted to Ware's side, one would have thought you could have capitalized on some 1v1 battles. You didn't. But at least you played "CB" well.
Wouldn't he have to play pass coverage against a TE in some sets anyway as an OLB? So did he even really play corner?
No, he was just bitching about having to jam Winslow at the line..... like a CB. He wasn't actually playing CB. But yes... an OLB does have to do some coverage. Ellis doesn't like that. He likes to rush the passer. Which is why he bitched about moving to OLB.... (he didn't want to have to cover. He was worried about embarrassing himself. He said so, himself). Then... he ends up being a better pas rusher at OLB than he ever was at DE... and he still bitches. He does a good job of jamming; he bitches... because he wasn't rushing the passer, even though he did nothing in terms of generating pressure DESPITE all of the protection being shifted to Ware.
Vintage how do you feel about moving Ellis back to DE and putting Spencer opposite Ware? That seems like a pretty scary pass rush. I'd like to keep him opposite Spears now that it seems that Marcus is becoming increasingly good at stopping the run nowadays.
I think Ellis is too small to be a 3-4 DE full time. I think he is better suited for an OLB in a 3-4 as a pass rushing specialist. Basically, I think Spencer needs to be on the field on 1st and 2nd downs; Ellis come in (either for Spencer or in ADDITION to Spencer on 3rd down).... Spencer > Ellis in run stopping, coverage. But Ellis > Spencer as a pass rusher. And Ellis is better at rushing the QB from SOLB than he was at DE. Plus, Ellis at DE would make our run defense weaker.
