Ellis or No Ellis, the Cowboys Should Be Set at Outside Linebacker

by Ryan Wilson
from FanHouse Sports Blog
Filed under: Cowboys, NFC East

NFL minicamps are in the books, and now it's the longest, slowest part of the NFL off-season: the six weeks until the start of training camp. While I red "X" each passing day on my Roger Goodell calendar, the Cowboys will be working out the details of their new-fangled version of the 3-4 defense.

Dallas used their first-round pick on defensive end Anthony Spencer and promptly moved him to outside linebacker. Just like they did with DeMarcus Ware two years before ... and they hope with similar results. Well, so far, so good:
The rookie from Purdue was working with the first-team defense during the summer mini-camps and OTA practices, lining up at strong-side linebacker in place of Greg Ellis, who is busy rehabbing his Achilles' injury and should be ready for the start of training camp.

And that's the rub: head coach Wade Phillips says the job is Ellis' if he's healthy, but nobody -- including Ellis -- knows if it'll happen. This is a good problem to have, I guess. Another plus for Spencer? Unlike previous seasons under Bill Parcells, the rookie doesn't have to fetch water for the head coach. I think that's now Ellis' job.