Should Ellerbe start?

Dannell Ellerbe started off his time with the Ravens with  high expectations because he joined a select few players in Ravens history who earned a spot on the 53 man roster in 2009 as a rookie free agent. Did he do enough as a rookie to become a starter on defense?

During the first few weeks of his rookie campaign, Ellerbe was healing from an injury he suffered at the end of his college career but when he set foot on the field, he never left. The first team he played against was the New England Patriots during week 4. He was contributing only on special teams until Tavares Gooden got hurt and left a space open for Ellerbe to play next to Ray Lewis on defense.

It was not until week 14 when the Chicago Bears came to M&T Bank Stadium that Ellerbe was awarded his first career NFL start. From that point on he began showing the professional football world his ability to stop the run and defend the pass from the inside linebacker position. Jay Cutler, the quarterback he played against in that game, finished the day with a 7.9 quarterback rating. Ellerbe finished off the regular season by intercepting a pass thrown by Raiders quarterback Jamarcus Russell. He ended the season with 41 tackles, one pass deflection and one interception.

The Ravens do have other talented players at the inside linebacker position like speedy linebacker Tavares Gooden, the person Ellerbe succeeded as starting linebacker, versatile player Jameel Mcclain who has played inside and outside linebacker positions as well and savvy veteran Brendan Ayanbadejo who has been a standout special teams player in his career but hasn't established the reputation as a solid starter on defense.

Ellerbe is young and only improving under the veteran leadership of Ray Lewis. Many have already compared him to Bart Scott because of the way both of these players came from obscurity to starting in the NFL. In my eyes, Ellerbe does not get spoken in the same breath as Scott until he earns a Pro Bowl nod and has over 100 tackles in a season. However he is the best person on the roster to start next to Ray Lewis if proves he can improve on his pass coverage and remain durable over a long period of time.

*Important to note that Harbaugh has yet to knight Ellerbe the starter which means there is still a competition for that spot.