South Carolina’s JUCO addition to the defensive line: I’m fast for my size.
The South Carolina football team’s defense is going for more speed up front.
That means a smaller defensive end and former ends spending more time at tackle. It also presented an interesting situation for someone looking at the addition of Jabari Ellis, a 280-pound defensive tackle joining the team from the junior college ranks.
For Ellis, this emphasis on speed won’t be an issue.
“I really don’t like saying I play like this type of player or that type of player,” Ellis said. “I’m fast for my size.
“I feel like I can stop the run and I can also pass rush.”
The Lake Marion High School product did a good bit of that last season, compiling 22 tackles, nine for loss and four sacks on an 8-2 Georgia Military College team.
It’s the second consecutive season USC added a defensive tackle from the junior college ranks. Last fall, Javon Kinlaw grew into a force for the Gamecocks defense as he lost 40 pounds from his peak weight. He, too, had some reputation as a run plugger, but protested he could disrupt (and he did).
Ellis didn’t think there would be much reshaping of his body. While still in junior college, he followed a workout booklet USC’s staff gave him, but said he wouldn’t dig too much into the diet aspect.
“I was this size since high school,” Ellis said. “This is my comfortable playing weight. If I do add weight, I don’t think it would be too much. I don’t see myself getting much past 300.
“As long as I keep my speed, move how I move. It’s cool.”
Playing at GMC allowed Ellis to get a jump on things, as the 160-mile drive wasn’t too far that he couldn’t drop in often in the spring.
That meant he got to watch practices, pick up plays and elements of the way Gamecocks players do things (and the way coaches want things). That includes watching defensive line coach Lance Thompson at work.
“I realized their D-tackles are very versatile,” Ellis siad. “When I had a chance to work out with coach Thompson, everything we did on one side, we did on the other side, so it wasn’t like you’re set to one position on one side. You work everything.”
He quickly realized Thompson possessed a great deal of expertise, and aimed to act like a sponge, soaking up all he could.
Ellis pointed out he was close with a pair of veteran Gamecocks even before arriving on campus. He’s played in the Shrine Bowl with Kinlaw, and both had to take the junior college road. USC starting left tackle Dennis Daley was Ellis’ teammate for a year in Milledgeville, Ga. He said when he visited in the spring, it was often just to spend time with fellow players.
Ellis will be stepping into a position where the Gamecocks have a lot of options as they aim to reload, but few are proven. Kinlaw is an anchor, and Kobe Smith was the No. 4 tackle behind the departed Taylor Stallworth and Ulric Jones. Big end Keir Thomas will be primarily a tackle at 276 pounds, according to the coaches.
But after that, there are talented options.
Rick Sandidge, a 285-pound four-star freshman, is now on campus. Freshman ends-turned tackles Kingsley Enagbare (285 pounds) and Tyreek Johnson (270) have been with the team since January, and M.J. Webb, a 288-pound former four-star end that moved inside, is coming off a redshirt season.
“They’re thin at the D-tackle position right now,” Ellis said. “So they want me to come in and really just take care of my business. They didn’t tell me anything about starting or nothing like that. It’s all up to me and what I do.”
Before he reached campus, he wasn’t doing it alone.
Junior college players often leave school after their final seasons, finishing up a last class or two remotely, working out on their own. Ellis stayed at GMC, continuing to work out with his former team.
USC coach Will Muschamp said Ellis was one of the first players he saw after he was hired. He helped direct Georgia Military his way, hoping he’d end up back in South Carolina, as he now has.
“It’s a big opportunity,” Ellis said. “I mean, I really felt like it was God’s plan.
“Sky’s the limit for me.”