Did the Dolphins finally find a nose tackle? Meet Louis Ellis

( Sorry . Blog has been down all day. Glad it’s finally up and running. This kid is pretty intriguing). The Dolphins waited until after last weekend’s draft to add a nose tackle, signing 320-pound Louis Ellis, who dominated for two seasons at Shaw University. Ellis is one of nine rookie free-agents signed this week by the Dolphins, the team announced Thursday. But he might be the one who fits the most glaring need. Most of the others won’t come as a surprise. To review, in case you missed it: – Defensive end Ryan Baker, Purdue, prototypical size (6-5, 295) and strength (34 reps with 225 pounds at combine) for a 3-4 end. – Tight end Jared Bronson, Central Washington, caught 502 yards and six touchdowns despite missing six games with a shoulder injury in 2008. – Running back Anthony Kimble, Stanford, sturdy runner (6-0, 215) had 717 rushing yards (6.0 a carry) and six TDs as a senior. – Guard Mark Lewis, Oregon, started all 25 games in 2007-08, All Pac-10 shot putter. – Wide receiver Brennan Marion, Tulsa, averaged 28.7 yards in ’08, tore ACL on final play of Conference USA title game. – Defensive end Orion Martin, Virginia Tech, had 7 1/2 sacks, 13 TFLs in ’08. – Offensive tackle SirVincent Rogers, Houston, knee injury in 2006 derailed promising career for 6-4, 315-pounder. – Wide receiver Chris Williams, New Mexico State, 32 career touchdowns and 4.28 speed for 154-pounder. But Ellis is the one who might be the most intriguing, given Jason Ferguson’s age and back-up Paul Soliai’s shortcomings. Even GM Jeff Ireland admitted last Sunday the team could have used a nose tackle

out of the draft. The team failed to use one of their nine draft picks on one, despite the fact Ferguson turns 35 on Nov. 28 and Soliai had three tackles and two one-game suspensions in his second NFL season. “Well we got a player that we like a lot in Jason, now I know that he is getting up there in years, it was a position that you would certainly like to address, but it just didn’t fall in the draft the way you wanted to,” Ireland said. “We weren’t going to reach and there are only so many big nose tackles walking on this earth and we just didn’t get our hands on one this year.” Ellis, a junior-college transfer, was named the Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons. He totaled 129 tackles, including 43 for loss and 16 sacks for Shaw, located in Raleigh, N.C. SI.com’s scouting report breaks down Ellis’ game . Ellis is quick, agile and powerful, but needs to improve his technique and conditioning. The conclusion: “Ellis is a physically talented lineman who was an outstanding small school player, and he possesses the skills to make an NFL roster. If he does what is necessary off-the-field to become a better football player, he could stick around the NFL for a while.” Sounds like a good pick-up, and given Parcells and Co.’s success last year snagging undrafted rookies Davone Bess and Dan Carpenter one or two of these nine free agents just might have an impact.

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Did the Dolphins finally find a nose tackle? Meet Louis Ellis

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