Arkansas senior
Brooks Ellis embodies just about everything you could ask for in a college football player. an Academic All-American (3.8 gpa as a pre-med student), Ellis is just as instinctive and "heady" on the field. last year, he started every game and played nearly every defensive snap for the Hogs. he not only quarterbacked the defense but also led the charge from a playmaking standpoint, leading the team with 102 tackles with 8.0 tackles-for-loss.
this year in the season opener, he accomplished a first in head coach Bret Bielema's career: a middle linebacker who made ZERO mental errors.
“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a game where I had a (middle) linebacker with zero mental busts,” Bielema said. “(Ellis) was a guy that was locked in every play. Especially for an opener, he was pretty impressive because they gave us new formations, new looks and stuff like that.”
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith added: “If there was one guy that was in the right place all day long Saturday, it was certainly Brooks.”
he followed that up with a dominant effort against the spread passing attack of then-#12 TCU, despite being primarily known as a run-stopper.
Ellis amassed a team-high 8 solo tackles (and a team-high 13 total tackles), a team-high 3 tackles-for-loss, and an interception (seen above) returned 47 yards for a touchdown. he did all of this despite battling cramps and needing to receive a double IV during the second half.
in game three, against weak Texas State, he once again led the team in tackles with 7 to go along with another tackle-for-loss and a pass break up ...
all in the first half. he rested the second half in the blowout.
Ellis, at 6-foot-2, 245-pounds, has been the best Razorbacks defender for the better part of two years (and frequently the only White one). he has a good shot of making it to the next level, although he obviously "lacks affleticism."
