Ellis Has Opportunity To Vault Dorsey At Combine

The 2007 college football season saw LSU's Glenn Dorsey capturing all the defensive tackle headlines. He was said to be the anchor for the nation's top defense, though the Trojans finished statistically better, and his season was capped with a national title. All the hype down in Baton Rouge made Sedrick Ellis the best kept secret out west. But the truth is, there isn't much of a gap in talent between the two men, and the offseason has allowed Ellis to show it.

Under the advice of his agent, Ellis skipped the Senior Bowl in Mobile Alabama. In his absence, Ellis was the shining star, propelling himself up draft boards and possibly among the top 5 prospects. Now we enter the NFL scout combine in Indianapolis, where NFL bigwigs will fill seats and NFL talent is on display. With the recent death of his grandmother, Glenn Dorsey announced that he will not be able to participate in the combine, meaning we still can't grade his performance or compare his skills to Ellis.

What this does is open the door a little wider for USC's All American defensive tackle. It's a second opportunity to make an impression, with USC's pro day still down the road. In all, he will give the NFL 3 good looks to Dorsey's one, and have the opportunity to vault a player originally projected to go No. 1 overall. Since that early projection, the speculation is that the Dolphins won't draft a DT, especially if they plan to run a 3-4 defense. But picks 2 through 5 can easily land a stud on the defensive line, and those teams have only seen Ellis.

Trojans were the majority at the Senior bowl, and with 12 invites to the NFL combine, USC has one player more than Virginia Tech, giving them another majority.