Whoa... we've got a huge body.

[rick34125]

Ellis, DL Learn More in '07, Reshape for '08

Published: 04-29-08

By Eric Allen

Senior Managing Editor

When Shaun Ellis heard that the Jets had acquired NT Kris Jenkins in a trade from the Carolina Panthers, the veteran defensive end stopped for a moment.

“I was like whoa,” he said. “We’ve got a huge body. Kris Jenkins moves well. For a big man, he runs good for his size. He’s probably one of the best defensive tackles at the point of attack. So it was a great addition.”

At 6’4”, 349 pounds, Jenkins will man the A-gap between the center and the guard. He’ll require double-team attention as Ellis works the gaps inside and outside the RT and Kenyon Coleman mans the gaps inside and outside of the LT.

“Look at some 3-4 defenses out there,” Ellis said. “In San Diego, they’ve got Jamal Williams [6’3”, 348], who’s big and stout. Look back and Buffalo was great when they had Ted Washington [6’5”, 375]. In New England, they’ve got Vince [Wilfork, 6’2”, 325].

“The middle is the nucleus of the 3-4. You have to have somebody who’s big in the middle and can hold the A-gap. You have to.”

The Jets front office had similar thoughts when presented with the opportunity to get Jenkins and determined it was a trade it had to make. That pickup made Dewayne Robertson expendable and the Green & White shipped the 6’1”, 310-pounder to the Broncos last Thursday.

Last season, Ellis said the D-line “played in spurts.” He thought the unit held up well at the point but wasn't as consistent as it was in 2006 and got beat on some things, including cutback lanes. Coleman, in his first season with the Jets, had 90 tackles (53 solo), Robertson pitched in with 74 tackles and four sacks, and Ellis quietly tied for the team lead with five sacks, led the club with 12 QB hurries and added 60 stops.

“The 3-4 is more of a team defense. Everybody has to work with each other and you have to have gap control,” Ellis said. “The 3-4 means you’re two-gapping so you have B and C and the nose gap over A. The linebackers have their gaps also.”

The 4-3 is based on the notion of attacking and allows players to rack up stats. For a defensive lineman, the 3-4 means a lot of dirty work: occupy blockers and many times allow someone behind you to make the play.

“In the 4-3, you just stay on your side and press your gap down. As a defensive end in the 4-3, all you have is the outside contain,” Ellis said. “You can chase everything down when the ball goes away from you.”

“But when the ball goes away from you in a 3-4, you have to maintain gap integrity in the B-gap and let the A-gap control it,” he added. “You have to play responsible. It’s not like you can run behind the blocks.”

And why is gap integrity so important?

“You must read all your keys first before you just fly off to the ball,” Ellis said. “And if you get turned out of your gap, that’s a big old hole.”

The Jets were also bolstered up front by reserve contributions from DTs CJ Mosley, who played in a career-high 14 games and had 2.5 sacks, and Sione Pouha, who signed a contract extension this off-season. And DE Mike DeVito, a Maine product, appeared in seven games after becoming the only undrafted rookie free agent to make the Jets' 53-man roster for the season opener.

For the second consecutive season, the Green & White played much better defense down the stretch. The coaching staff got creative in the second half and the 6’5”, 285-pound Ellis was even used at linebacker.

“It was something I wasn’t used to. I had fun with it,” he said. “You get to see the game from kind of a different perspective back there. It was pretty fun, but I’m a lineman and I’d rather be down.”

Ellis is a mauler, though, and has made a good living in the trenches, so the position switch won’t ever be permanent.

“It felt really weird. I had never done it during my whole career. Standing up, you see a lot better,” he said. “But the contact itself is kind of delayed, so you can react quickly, I guess, but I like contact.”

The Green & White also confused offenses with their cloud formations at the line of scrimmage. They would stand up defensive linemen and linebackers alike, overload one side and then send players all over the place. Ellis or another lineman may have lined up on right and then sprinted left at the snap of the ball, a player who started in the middle could go right, etc.

“It puts the most pressure on the center because the center calls out the checks,” Ellis said. “It really screws guys’ gaps. They’d tried to counter with quick snaps and screens . It’s not a type of play you can run on every down. I think every time we ran it, we had success with it.”

Success with every defense starts up front. Ellis, the fourth-leading sack artist in Jets history, and Coleman will now line up adjacent to one of the game’s bigger NTs in Jenkins.

But the primary goal will remain the same: contain the run (the Jets were 29th in the league last season at 134.8 yards per game) and then work from there.

“It all depends on the run,” Ellis says. “If you can make teams one-dimensional where they have to pass, your sack numbers go up. If you can’t stop the run, then they’ll continue to run the ball on you.”

http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/articles/show/2165-ellis-dl-learn-more-in-07-reshape-for-08

[Thai Jet]

Nice article Rick. Thanks

[rick34125]

I want to see those cloud formations again this year with Pace and Gholston in there.

[drago]

I want to see those cloud formations again this year with Pace and Gholston in there.

i was thinking the same thing. One thing that no one talks about with our new toys (draft picks) is David Harris. I highly doubt he isn't going to be the best linebacker for us again this year, he is the man people have to game plan for. His play alone should help Pace and Gholston get aclimated. It isn't as though those two have to step in and be schemed against, every team will still be concerned with Harris, their next concern would probably be Rhodes then Jenkins...

I feel its a great situation for both pace and gholston to thrive.

[Boozer76]

When I think about our front 7 from an offensive opponent's standpoint it really makes me smile. Think about it-they have to focus first and foremost on getting 2 guys on Jenkins. Then they need to figure out whose going to plug up Harris (A FB? I think not!). Running outside on a 3-4 D is hard enough, but with Pace and Thomas/Gholston on the outsides it's going to be very tough. I honestly feel really good about the D this year for the first time that I can remember.

[DMaynard]

i was thinking the same thing. One thing that no one talks about with our new toys (draft picks) is David Harris. I highly doubt he isn't going to be the best linebacker for us again this year, he is the man people have to game plan for. His play alone should help Pace and Gholston get aclimated. It isn't as though those two have to step in and be schemed against, every team will still be concerned with Harris, their next concern would probably be Rhodes then Jenkins...

I feel its a great situation for both pace and gholston to thrive.

Harris will be unbelievable playing behind Jenkins. Just like in baseball, you want to have a strong defense up the middle (catcher, ss/2nd base, cf) - the Jets have Jenkins, Harris and Rhoades.

[Green DNA]

I thought this thread was about a new mod or something

[mbn007]

I agree about Harris. Behind Jenkins, he can really dominate against the run. If Jenkins stays healthy and productive (meaning, he occupies 2 blockers consistently), Harris should have 200 tackles this season.

Now that would be something.

[Irish Jet]

If Jenkins stays healthy I really think we can have a dominant defense next season.

[stoicsentry]

Yes our front seven should be solid once they get used to playing with each other.

Tell you what, I really like Shaun Ellis. I know at this point in his career he's not going to be dominant but he's been pretty solid for years as far as I can remember. He plays every down, and even if he does get outmatched sometimes he plays with some passion. Plus it seems as though he doesn't have an inflated ego and isn't the type of guy that would cause locker room problems. He's out there to help the team win as best he can, that's all. I love that.

[scionce]

pace, barton, harris, gholston... i can't remember the last time i was stoked over the LB corps as a whole. if they pan out and find that elusive chemistry, with gholston and pace on the outside, we should see more production out of ellis, who definitely benefitted from abraham on the other end when we had him. jenkins turns harris into a true nightmare and gives coleman a lot more one-on-ones. we could very well see the return of the ny sack exchange...

[flgreen]

, we should see more production out of ellis, who definitely benefitted from abraham on the other end when we had him.

Ellis was tied for the leading # of sacks on the Jets last year. In the 3-4 defense the DE's don't usually get many sacks, it is usually the LB's.

Ellis still has a few more years left