| 22 June 2010
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, safety Kevin Ellison has been claimed off waivers by Seattle after being cut yesterday by the Chargers. Ellison played for Carroll at USC, where he was a three year starter at strong safety (and an All-Pac-10 honorable mention in '06).
San Diego drafted Ellison in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. Ellison started nine games for the Chargers after Steve Gregory was moved from strong safety to replace Antoine Cason at the nickel back position. Ellison's stats for the '09 season are respectable, if not particularly exciting. He is a prototypical strong safety: he's not fast enough to play free safety or cornerback (he ran the 40 in 4.87 at the combine) and he needs work in coverage, but he is a sure tackler and excels when he's placed near the line of scrimmage to defend against the run.
But if he's a decent player, albeit in a limited Roy Williams kind of way, why did the Chargers waive him? Back in late May, Ellison decided to go speeding through a school zone. After the police caught up with him, they discovered a bottle containing about a hundred Vicodin pills. Ellison's agent tried to explain away the drugs by saying that Ellison "thought it was a good idea to get enough painkillers to last the season . . . They were for him to use because of his knee surgery." Which is all fine and dandy, except that Ellison scored those pills without the aid of a prescription. Whoops.
The Chargers responded by asking Ellison to stay away from the team activities and drafting safety Darrell Stuckey in the fourth round. Ellison was allowed to rejoin the team on June 8th, but the drug arrest combined with the team's depth at safety made his release on Monday all but inevitable.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
