Vikings coach Brad Childress said Tuesday that he doesn't know if DE Erasmus James will ever be able to play again. James has had three knee surgeries in the last 12 months. The Vikings will consider anything he offers in 2008 a bonus. With Kenechi Udeze (leukemia) even less likely to help, defensive end remains a big need area for the club. This may be a pretty radical idea ---- hell, its only a website for discussing. I never really considered Shaun Ellis to be a good 3-4 DE. IMO, he is average - at best. We might be able to get a 3rd round draft pick from Minnesota --- they have 2 of them. Getting a 3-4 DE in the 1st 3 rounds of this draft is imperative.
We have nobody better on the team and nobody coming to us in the draft. Even if we managed to Chris Long AND he was able to play DE he wouldn't be replacing Ellis. Besides, I think Ellis is a pretty good player. Not great but since Abraham left he has had to be the entire pass rush by himself. That's easy to block against. If we have a couple of edge rushers this year watch for him to improve.
It would be an interesting idea, but i don't think we could get a 3rd round pick for a guy who has underachieved his whole career but minnesota might be willing to overpay because they are in such dire need of an end... What happened to Erasmus James? I knew about Udeze's leukemia and that truly is a tragic story...
Ellis is maybe the most under-rated player on our defense and he is a quality 3-4 end. It never ceases to amaze me how many posts include some variation of "ellis is a 4-3 end, not a 3-4 end" which is patently not true. Ellis was drafted specifically to be a 3-4 end-- IMO the only reason people say that is they see his higher sack numbers from his years in the 4-3 and assume because his numbers are lower in a different system, he must not be "suited" for it. He is clearly above average in the NFL, although not a consistent star.
i'm not a lover of ellis, but i can't help but think his production will improve when the team gives opposing coaches someone else to fear on our defense.
Ellis is Ellis meaning he does what is asked. When Abraham was a Jet we gave teams 2 threats @ DE. Hopefully Pace or if we get(That's who I want to draft)Gholston pans out. Ellis will be making us very happy..no doubt about it
Sean Ellis is our best defensive lineman. He's led the D-Line in sacks the last two years, but stats are irrelevant. He plays the 3-4 position to perfection, he has exactly the body type necessary for the role and he's a great great student of the game. He knows that d lineman in the 3-4 are "just trying to build the wall to free up linebackers." (His words). I think he's going to be a great player for at least five more years. The only scenario involving his trade would be one that netted us Chris Long. And NO, Chris Long would not play linebacker in a 3-4, he'd play end. He'd play it ridiculously well, too.
I'm curious to know where you got the notion that Sean Ellis is an "underachiever." Was it the last two seasons, when he put up 5 sacks each (a great number for 3-4 linemen) amidst constant double-teaming? The year before, when he played hurt on Herm's Alamo team? The two years before that, when he put up double digit sacks both seasons? Maybe his rookie season when he had 8.5 sacks?
The people who think Ellis is not performing are looking for 12 sacks out of him and nothing else. That never happens in a 3-4 from the strong-side end but that doesn't stop people from pretending that Ellis is at fault. He's been the Jets best lineman by far since the 3-4 was installed and losing him would set us back some.
He was drafted as a first round pick, he was supposed to come into the league and be a dominant force. He had a great rookie season, and then we stupidly moved him inside to DT and it took him 3 years to go and recoup some production. Then he played phenomenally when Abraham was in there and played iffy when he wasn't. The second we traded Abraham, Ellis's production has dropped markably. I agree that 5 sacks for a 3-4 end is good, but honestly I don't think Ellis has lived up to his pass-rushing expectations from draft day. We shoot down D-rob and Brick basically daily because they haven't lived up to the expectations that come from their draft position, so why are we not allowed to hold Ellis to the same standard?
We DO hold him to the same standard because he HAS lived up to the expectations! The "second" John Abraham was traded also happened to be the same "second" we transitioned to a 3-4 defense. And since he had 2.5 sacks when he was hurt the year before Mangini came in and 5 sacks during his first year as a 3-4 guy, what exactly do you mean by "Ellis's production dropped markably."(?)
People need to evaluate players by how they play on the field. That means watching games, not simming them in madden and looking at the final stat line. Watch Ellis - he goes out there and goes to work every day. I have no complaints.
Total baloney. This guy was one of the more consistent sack guys in the NFL in a 4-3. If anyone ever actually watched Abraham, the guy was RARELY double teamed. A student of the game could tell a lot about this guy's work ethic before that article in ESPN(where he talks about sleeping thru meetings, showing up late) by watching him on Sundays. Abraham's lone pass rush move was terrible- essentially, he'd attempt to run around the offensive tackle until and come up behind the pocket. He was mostly irrelevant. Every once in a while he'd have a big game and inflate those sack totals...I suppose, when he was "interested." Ellis is a traditional power end. I think he's been fine in the 3-4. Is he a plus player? No, but a 3-4 end is only supposed to occupy the offensive tackle. -X-
I guess you don't have anything to do today -- man, you must be bored. Shaun Ellis is a steady plus on this DL. Why should we take a step backward now? I think that every move made by the FO so far this year has been a step forward. Let's not break the record yet. Draft picks can't begin to replace Shaun Ellis for years. I think this is a very bad idea.
