The Raiders need to unleash the animal in the middle of their defensive line

Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Justin Ellis is a humongous human being and he plays that way. At 6’2, 335 pounds (which is probably a weee bit conservative), the dude not only is hard to move, but he actually moves people! In a 3-4, I’m used to seeing guys catch blocks and just try to anchor down so they don’t get knocked off the ball too much. Sometimes I might see a guy grab the offensive lineman and give themselves up to keep those offensive linemen off their linebackers. Ellis, on the other hand, was outchea dump trucking fools on a regular basis against the run. The dude was an damn animal inside.

To me, Ellis should be the full-time nose tackle for the Raiders. He gives centers so much hell that when they try to block him one-on-one, it ain’t even funny. Oakland, however, doesn’t give a fuck what I think. They move their inside guys all around. So sometimes he’s the nose, and sometimes Ellis might be in the B gap. Other times, he might be two-gapping an offensive tackle.

He can do those other things pretty well too, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that while he is big and strong as an ox, Ellis isn’t exactly athletic enough to be as impactful when he’s head-up on an offensive tackle as he can be on a center.

Hell, line him up shading the center. Line him up head up on the guard. Who gives a damn? As long as Ellis is lined up somewhere in the vicinity of the A gap, it’s almost a given that he’s going to fuck shit up!

Not just on running plays, either. Ellis also consistently pushes the pocket when he happens to be in the game on a passing play. A nickel rusher he is not, but with Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin coming around the edge, having a guy like Ellis who can keep the quarterback from having somewhere to step up and avoid them isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Ellis had an ankle injury last season and only ended up playing in 12 games with nine starts, which is why he only had 22 tackles. Headed into his third season, I think he can have a much bigger impact on early downs if he can stay healthy. That’s especially true if the Raiders start playing him more at nose tackle.

He may not be a “sexy” pick for a breakout player, but if Justin Ellis plays the way I think he will this year, he will be a huge part of why that Raiders defense finally gets to the level it needs to in order to make the playoffs.