I love his highlight reels and was very excited based on what I had seen of his play during the Ravens superbowl run... however, after some further review his history is very spotty and he doesn't have that much production over his 3+ years in the league and could be said to be injury prone. What I'm wondering is what is everyone else's predictions for what type of year this guy has? I'd love to see 90+ tackle and 5 sack year like what he did this past year but if I'm being honest I don't see that happening.
Why not? Ellerbe has a motor and gets involved alot on tackles. He stepped up when Lewis was injured. My glass is half full. He's got to stay healthy but so does every player. All depends on how the Phins use him on Defense but he brings alot of upside backed up by solid play with the Ravens. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/n...ds-dannell-ellerbe-earns-defensive-mvp-honors
Like I said I love everything he brings with his play but after that many seasons he hasn't started in 16 games total let alone in a season? He wasn't even a consistent starter at UGA. I really am just tempering expectations I guess since he has such promise.
I think if he's healthy he's going to be a pro bowl caliber player for us, also hopefully he creates more turnovers than Karlos
I think Ellerbe will be pretty good. I'm not sure he isn't a downgrade from Dansby and Burnett. Statistics don't correlate all that strongly with linebacker performance though.
Don't really know what to expect from him TBH, do find it interesting that Coyle had probably known about Ellerbe from the Cinci days, but otherwise, no telling how it will pan out. One of those pickups that could be Randy Starks for us, or he could be Tim Dobbins.
He came in when Lewis got dinged. I know he came in and performed to a level that got him plaudits. Thats a pretty good thing when he was thrown in replacing a HOF player. Im sure alot of ppl were expecting a major drop off at LB position when Lewis went down. Ellerbe didnt disapoint his team mates, coaches or fans. That says alot.
I'm hoping he's a big upgrade over Dansby, but realistically I see him better pass-rusher, maybe comparable vs run, which to me, is worth the money. The only thing that matters to me is impact, game changing plays. I'm tired of our defensive line playing at a high level and our back seven (minus Jones) playing good, but not good enough. With Ellerbe, Wheeler, Jordan and Misi, we at least have potential to be really good.
Has anyone isolated him during the Super Bowl?.. That might be a good game to do so, hmmm might be my Friday nite.
Not too confident in him being a star, honestly. One-year wonder at Baltimore who was actually behind Jameel McClain until JM got injured - McClain can really play, but still you'd like to have seen Ellerbe projected as a starter at the beginning of the season. Ravens defensive studs who go elsewhere in FA don't have a great track record on their new teams (Adalius Tomas, Dawan Landry, Bart Scott, Jarrett Johnson, Nakamura, Zbikowski, Anthony Weaver, Ed Hartwell even). The Ravens system tends to produce overachievers, imo, just look at those guys they had locking down cornerback with Cary Williams down the stretch: Corey Graham and Chaike Brown?? Guys came out of nowhere and were key to the Pats and SF games. Ellerbe is the FA I have the most doubts about, and it's mostly about this trend with the organization he's coming from.
Vs the pats in the AFCC. Our defenders have been: -step slow, blitzes just don't get there, and imo -poor ball skills, my goodness, how many Int's did we watch get dropped the last 4 yrs? -poor nose for fumbles, once again how many did we see hit the ground and not be recovered? What that really tells me most of the guys from the Parcells era lacked on the field awareness and instincts, only guys left who probably will play a lot are Misi and Odrick, maybe Clemons.
Webb as well, difference is they had planned on resigning Ellerbe and Ireland picked Newsome's pocket. Will be interesting to see how they do w/o Reed and Lewis, they still have Ngata and landed Dumervil (to pair with Suggs him). Speaking of Suggs he tore his achilles as well last yr and came back within the season, gives me some insight into Grimes recovery prospects.
Watched the superbowl.. Hes a very physical tackler and blitzer, loves to read his key, take his angle and go 100 percent, whatever gets in his way he explodes into, very good at anticipating the snap count on his blitzes, has no repertoire in the basket in terms of pass rush moves, but can slice thru traffic to get to the ball with quick footwork, he's a penatrator, you"ll see a lot more plays happen behind the Los because of how he reads, knifes, and explodes, not afraid to sacrifice his body for his assignment, will take on any block and punish, he's not a shedder, so keeping him clean is important, his drop in coverage is ok, but gets lost a bit if the initial timing of the play gets extended, he looks to me like he'll be better on the inside..Dudes a classic thumper with a violent temper meant who takes aggressive angles to the ball, and the Qb..
Given that he was sitting behind a future first ballot HOF LBer the lack of playing time is understandable. Have heard the health issue problem so we will see but Newsome is spot on with his player evals and he wanted to resign Ellerbe which means alot IMV.
He is younger and faster than Dansby, but I don't know if he is an overall upgrade over Dansby at the LB position. A lot of people on here were down on Dansby, but I think he was one of the top players on the defense last year. I also think his leadership will be missed. Ellerbe had limited starts for the Ravens. Even though he did play well once he became a starter, I just think they may have overpaid for a player who really doesn't have a long track record as a starting LB in the NFL. With Ellerbe and Wheeler taking over for Dansby and Burnett, we can only hope that Ireland made the right decision and that the defense doesn't take a step backwards because of a weaker LB corp.
I completely agree with your take on it jw. I think he CAN be great. But paying him so much for such a spotty track record is some of what That heath Evans guy was talking about and he's right about that.
According to PFF Dansby and Ellerbee were 14th and 15th at ILB. Barnett and Wheeler were 4th and 6th at OLB. Dansby's mouth got in his way. Coming out so strong against the Johnson release and then announcing he had a torn bicepts on the radio doesn't lead me to believe he bought in. These kind of changes are bound to occur. Let's hope they picked the right guys.
Most of those guys you named were never "studs" for the Ravens defense. Anthony Weaver? That'd be like calling Odrick a stud for our defense. Jarrett Johnson has only been out of Baltimore 1 season. Nakamura? Zbikowski?
Did he play well that game, I missed that game, was in a bar in manhattan beach talking with a girl the whole freakin time... Yes I did..
With respect .... you guys are placing way to much substance on the total $$ figure versus the way the contracts are written. Ellerbe, besides being younger, is also cheaper and on a one year prove it to me deal. In fact the whole group of this years FA's were signed that way, which to my way of thinking, really shows the true value of our FO staff and how they handle the funds Ross gives them.
