DMN Blog: Bench Greg Ellis

[Frozen700]

Is it too early to start the annual suicide watch for Ellis or should we wait until he starts his usual griping about playing time, etc.?

seriously

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Stupid....just plain dumb to not rush Ellis.....why is he covering anyone EXCEPT his momma?

 

[jobberone]

some of you DO NOT GET IT....they CANNOT rush Ellis all the time...he is an OLB...he has to cover sometimes....don't you think the opposition knows that if Ellis rushes every time...then the safety HAS to pick up the TE...which means there is single coverage on the outside...if Ellis does not or cannot cover...then he NEEDS to go to the bench....and all of those sacks Ellis got last year was a product of our offense putting up insane numbers and making the other team one dimensional....then when they HAD to pass all of the time...and Ware was getting all of the attention...it allowed Ellis to go one on one and pin his ears back....well his production is down because our offense is not forcing other teams to pass to keep up....so instead teams are just running us into the ground. Ellis needs to be a nickel pass rusher....PERIOD! Did you NOT watch the Steelers LBers last night? WE have ONE count it...ONE who could start for the Steelers...Ware! And the only other one that would get any burn would be Spencer! Ellis must play with his hand on the ground in the nickel and the dime. He should never be playing standing up. ANd he should NOT be starting.

I agree particularly with the first part. I know Ellis has started over Spencer for health reasons. I just don't know how well Spencer can cover and perform those duties esp compared to Ellis who gets it done mostly.

And most forget we are trying to help our TWO ROOKIE Cbs. When we can turn them loose then the safeties can cover the TEs and help double some WRs. But you still have to have someone cover the backs out of the backfield. That's generally the LBs and often the OLB. With Westbrook and the like you have to cover differently.

The coaches are stupid. They do make mistakes though. And I think they should stop taking Ellis and Spencer out of the pass rush so often. They need to trust the CBs more at times. Easy for me to say though.

Thankfully Henry should be better and TNew is back. After the Skins game hopefully AJ is back and we can begin to turn the dogs loose.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Stupid....just plain dumb to not rush Ellis.....why is he covering anyone EXCEPT his momma?

Because it allows other players to rush, and we can have a stronger blitz.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Ellis isn't covering TE's at any higher rate than he was last year. He's just not getting to the QB, which once again proves to me that Ellis is much more effective getting about 50-60% of the snaps than 90%+ of the snaps. I hate to tell Watkins, but in the 3-4, both OLB's have to cover the TE from time to time. So they either needed to bench Ellis from the beginning or get him to cover TE's better. There's really nothing about "screwing up the Greg Ellis situation." Spencer got hurt and Ellis was forced to start one way or another. I think it's just a case of Greg getting up there in age and not being as effective as he used to be.




YAKUZA

 

[Chuck 54]

Greg Ellis is an OLB in the 3-4 or a 4-3 DE or a 3-4 DE who only comes in to pass rush.

He can't play DE in the regular 3-4, and you can't expect him to do much from that spot at his OLB weight.

The best thing about Spencer is that he's a legit LB type...the offense doesn't know whether Spencer or Ware will rush the passer and which will drop back in coverage...occasionally they will rush together.

The same could be said of Ellis, but frankly, if he's not rushing the QB, no one really cares where he is because he's no LB.

 

[zeromaster]

Ellis isn't covering TE's at any higher rate than he was last year. He's just not getting to the QB, which once again proves to me that Ellis is much more effective getting about 50-60% of the snaps than 90%+ of the snaps. I hate to tell Watkins, but in the 3-4, both OLB's have to cover the TE from time to time. So they either needed to bench Ellis from the beginning or get him to cover TE's better. There's really nothing about "screwing up the Greg Ellis situation." Spencer got hurt and Ellis was forced to start one way or another. I think it's just a case of Greg getting up there in age and not being as effective as he used to be.




YAKUZA

Watkins wouldn't listen anyway; he's too busy baking up tasty morsels like the one that started this thread.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Another stupid post from Watkins.

Ellis is an OLB -- he can't rush the passer every single down. Unless you want to be completely predictable and have Ware dropping into coverage all the time, and who wants that?

I think we all know Ellis isn't an ideal 34 OLB -- he's old and he started out as a 43 DE. You can't expect him to be great at coverage, but that doesn't mean you rush him every single down, either.

Thank Gawd we have Spencer, who is that true 34 OLB. He would've taken over for Greg already, but he got hurt. Why is that so hard to comprehend?

 

[BigDFan5]

Oh, I get it now. Since the coaches decided to play Ellis out of position and away from his strengths, they now want to bench him for dropping his productivity. Wow! This coaching staff seems perfectly qulaifed now to run a mortgage institution straight towards a bailout.

What position did Ellis play when Phillips got here?

 

[Billy Bullocks]

Look, Ellis is not a 3-4 OLB. That fact has never been debated. He looks lost in space.

Sure he had a great year rushing the passer last year. But if you play OLB in the 3-4, you have to be able to cover.

And beyond that, he isn't getting it done when he is rushing the passer. The defense looked alot better with Spencer in there.

Ellis is over the hill.

 

[Chief]

I can just picture Ellis reading this ... wringing his hands, lowering his head, the deep sigh, the twitching, the chest heaving and, of course, the race to Jerry's office.

 

[Joe Realist]

All I know is we better draft heavy on defense, and OL in April

 

[DallasEast]

I can just picture Ellis reading this ... wringing his hands, lowering his head, the deep sigh, the twitching, the chest heaving and, of course, the race to Jerry's office.

It's like you're reading my mind...

 

[adbutcher]

Spencer did play well. Greg panties will be in a bunch, so be it.

 

[Billy Bullocks]

Greg Ellis' cry baby attitude is a pretty good reflection of the attitude this team has had over the last 4-5 weeks.

Start Spencer, and let Ellis cry. **** him.

 

[BigDFan5]

I can just picture Ellis reading this ... wringing his hands, lowering his head, the deep sigh, the twitching, the chest heaving and, of course, the race to Jerry's office.

Here is the text message he will send Calvin



Cal, y u h8t me man.

 

[BIGDen]

I got news for you guys. If they drop Spencer into coverage as much as Ellis then you're going to wonder what's wrong with him. Not saying Ellis is having a great year. Other than Ware none of them are.

I could say the same thing about Spears and Canty. When you lose you start looking for reasons and generally the blame game starts. Well it started weeks ago around here.

The same players beat a very good Bucs team because they didn't turn the ball over and won the field position battle. The same team makes five turnovers and gives the Giants opportunity after opportunity on a short field. The results are all too predictable.

We don't need to cut players. We need them to execute and stop the mistakes. And for the O to give the D a chance.

Very few Ds are going to survive five turnovers and a behind a lousy QB.

BTW, Spencer should start over Ellis because he's faster and stronger as long as you don't ask him to start covering too much downfield. At that point both of them will have some trouble. Which one the most I don't know. Perhaps Spencer knows enough and has played enough to beat Ellis out there, too.

Excellent post. This defense needs an infusion of explosiveness and Spencer brings that. IF we get and stay healthy, I believe we will be better in all 3 phases of the game.

 

[Rudy]

...still wish we had Moss instead! Or at least another player who at least warranted all the whining.
/hindsight

 

[dfense]

Oh, I get it now. Since the coaches decided to play Ellis out of position and away from his strengths, they now want to bench him for dropping his productivity. Wow! This coaching staff seems perfectly qulaifed now to run a mortgage institution straight towards a bailout.

So an OLB is out of position covering a TE? Sounds like he's not a very good OLB. IF only Spencer could stay on the field.

 

[Chief]

Here is the text message he will send Calvin



Cal, y u h8t me man.

:laugh2: