STARKVILLE — Mississippi State has converted its share of athletes into productive collegiate defensive backs in recent years.
Cameron Dantzler, who was selected in the third round of last week’s NFL draft, played mostly quarterback at St. Thomas Aquinas in Hammond, Louisiana, before becoming an all-Southeastern Conference cornerback at MSU over the past two seasons.
Before Dantzler, Johnathan Abram, Darius Slay and Charles Mitchell all played offense in high school ahead of standout careers with the Bulldogs and into the NFL.
And while the 2025 NFL draft is still a few years out, Corey Ellington profiles like the converted defensive backs of years past in Starkville.
“Whenever you look at those receivers they’ve got at the NFL level, they’ve got 6-foot-4s and 6-foot-5s and 6-foot-3 athletic kids — even 6-foot-2 guys,” Holmes County Central head coach Marcus Rogers told The Dispatch. “(Ellington) matches up well with them not only with his height, but with his length, with his arms and being able to run.”
As a youngster, Ellington spent the entirety of his football career on offense. But following a three-inch, 36-pound growth spurt between his sophomore and junior seasons, the one-time running back was moved to receiver in hopes of making use of his newly minted 6-foot-3, 186-pound frame.
In response, Ellington finished his junior season with 48 catches for 858 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“He’s really just learning his body,” Holmes County defensive backs coach Alan Washington told The Dispatch. “He sprouted up seemingly overnight and was just learning himself.”
Offensive upside aside, Rogers decided to slot Ellington in the defensive backfield over the final five games of the season after a slew of injuries piled up in the Holmes County secondary,
Lining up in his first contest as a high school defensive back on Oct. 10 against Provine, Ellington stood face to face with LSU commit Deion Smith of Provine — the No. 1-ranked player in Mississippi, according to 247 Sports’ 2021 class rankings.
Wherever Smith went that night, Ellington was to follow. Follow, he did.
Breaking off the line, Smith ran a slant pattern early in the contest. Sticking with him, Ellington reeled back and tipped a pass intended for the future Tiger into the air. Fading away from the ball, he watched as the deflection nestled into the arms of his teammate.
“I’ve got this,” Ellington remembered thinking after deflecting the pass for the pick.
In all, Smith finished with just one catch for 12 yards and a score– his lowest receiving output of the year — while Ellington notched three catches for 50 yards, a touchdown and two tackles on defense.
With the Provine game behind him, Ellington’s flashes of brilliance in the secondary persisted. Three weeks later in a win over Ridgeland, the Jaguar defense consistently struggled to defend the slant early.
Peering into the backfield after having been beaten a handful of times, Ellington recognized a jet sweep motion signified a run. If there was no motion, the slant was coming. Diagnosing the call, Ellington leapt in front of the next pass in his direction and returned the interception deep into Ridgeland territory.
“His personality, his skill set, all of it is unique,” Rogers said. “Especially with his size. He’s able to move around. He runs fast; he has top-end speed. He’s just a talented kid.”
While it remains to be seen how much game action Ellington will actually endure this fall given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, he’ll have a blueprint for success at the next level once in Starkville.
Boasting a comparable frame at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, rising sophomore Martin Emerson Jr. played just one full season at defensive back before arriving at MSU. Despite that, he earned honorable mention freshman all-American honors from Pro Football Focus in a major role opposite Dantzler.
More applicable to Ellington given that he profiles as a free safety in the collegiate ranks, West Point product Marcus Murphy has shown NFL-level talent in the back end of the secondary, though he spent his high school career as a triple-option quarterback.
And though Ellington is more raw than either Emerson or Murphy was coming out of high school, the size and ball skills are there to mesh with them in the defensive backfield as the latest athlete-turned-defensive back in Starkville.
“I really believe that they’re getting a sleeper,” Washington said. “This kid could easily be one of the top players in the SEC if he just keeps building that confidence and he just keeps going with it. The sky’s the limit with this kid.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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