I believe that Ware is VERY underrated on these boards.
I think that because his sack numbers are not eye-popping, he tends to catch a lot of flack up in here.
From what I see, he is constantly in the pocket causing pressure (often he is just a step late, or sends the QB into the arms of another pass-rusher). His run support has been extremely stout, and his coverage skills have gotten consistently better.
It seems that his primary weakness is that he tends to overpursue, which is common for inexperienced players.
On the flip side though, he is amazing to watch when he runs down plays, closing in on the ball-carrier with lightning speed.
While I think he will eventually develop into a dominant player, his growth will definitely be stunted by Ellis's injury. He will see many more chips and double-teams.
I think the greatest limitation on Ware's performance, however, is that he adheres to the current defensive scheme pretty closely. The reason he's just a step behind most plays is that he's thinking about his assignments too much.
Parcells said that it often drove him crazy that LT would simply go ball$-to-the-wall after the QB when that was not his assignment on the play. Often times, LT would be forgiven because of the results.
Our players have been so programmed to play the percentages, and avoid mistakes that I believe it has blunted their natural aggressive play-making instincts.
Perhaps once the coaching staff is more comfortable with the talent-level on defense, we'll see the boys being permitted to pin their ears back more often and "just go out there like a pack of rabid dogs, and have some fun."
Just a thought. I have many.