Backyard Baller: Bruce Ellington
In this series' initial installment, I took a look at Clemson's
offensive lineman Brandon Thomas and how he may project to the NFL, but the
recent bad news on him is that he tore his ACL in training.
Now, we move to in-state rival University
of South Carolina and have a look at one of the "other" players on their
roster....someone whose last name doesn't rhyme with "frowney."
I did attend South Carolina's Pro Day last
week, so I got to see him run his routes and catch some passes from QB Connor
Shaw, so at least I did get an unfettered view of him in a comparison with his
fellow WRs and the guy did stand out with crisp routes in general and smooth in
his cuts.
That said, you have to give anyone's game
tape a lot more weight than a few "backyard" pass patterns in shorts
and a t-shirt without defenders. That was about the only drill he did,
positional or otherwise, that I was able to see very well. There were literally
hundreds and hundreds of other people all over the field.
We all know about Jadeveon Clowney,
undoubtedly the premier athlete at ANY position in this year's NFL draft. In
fact, it has been a number of years since such a freakish, productive college
football player has entered his name into the hat for the next level.
But football is a team sport - again, as we
all know - and several Gamecocks have been slowly but surely creeping up the
draft board since the NFL combine.
Ellington is one of those guys.
First, let's review his vitals: He's only
5'9" but weighs in at 197 lbs, making him a very solidly-built young man
very reminiscent of ex-Carolina Panther Captain Munnerlyn (5'8" 195 lbs.).
Bruce ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL
Combine, demonstrating very good speed for the position. He recorded 15 bench
press repetitions at 225 lbs, showing very nice strength for a wide receiver
prospect which puts a number of sorts on his frame and his strength for his
stature. With a 39 1/2 inch vertical jump, ten feet even on the broad jump, a
sub-4 seconds in the short shuttle and a very quick 6.69 seconds in the 3-cone,
he shows agility equal to his strength and speed.
Put this all together, and he compares
well to another ex-Panther named Steve Smith.
Usually, smaller guys like Ellington (or
Smitty) are relegated to the slot at the NFL level, but Ellington's strength
may mean he's an exception to that general rule. It all depends on what team
and system he finds himself in.
With that in mind, let's take a look at
his strengths and weaknesses.
