2012 NFL Draft: University of Southern California Tight End Rhett Ellison

Rhett Ellison is a big, versatile tight end from the University of Southern California.  He went to the combine in February as a fullback and measured in at 6,4.5'' and 251 pounds.  Ellison is a movement tight end and played a very versatile role for the Trojans.  He certainly looks the part of the new breed of tight end.

Ellison received All-Pac 12 honors as a special teams player and played tight end and fullback for USC as a senior.  I asked him what the honor meant to him.  “It was awesome for the coaches to recognize, you know, they noticed me on special teams.”  He told me that he was honored to be first team.

We talked about special teams play and he knows that in order to make it in the NFL he will have to play special teams and teams have told him as much.  He is hopeful that his special teams play will get him noticed.

Ellison went to the combine as a fullback and was part of the running back group.  I asked him about the combine and the process.  We have all heard stories and I asked what it was like.  He said “It's definitely crazy but it's great to meet all the coaches and the teams and stuff like that.  Like, you know, you get to know them, they get to know you.”

He talked about what he learned.  He said “You kind of see what systems the teams have and how you can fit in with them.”  Like some of the other players, he mentioned that the medical process of the combine was difficult.  “The only thing that really was annoying was the medical process, you know, getting checked out by all the teams because it took all day.”

He said that by the time the actual physical testing came around he was fired up for it.  He said he was happy to be doing something other than getting poked and prodded.  Overall, he said it was a good experience and he was happy he got the opportunity.

Ellison played at USC with Matt Barkley who is arguably at the top of next year’s draft class as a quarterback.  I asked what it was like playing with Barkley.  He said “He's been awesome.  From when he got there to who he is now, I mean you can look at his numbers.  He just gets better and better every year consistently almost by the same amount of numbers.”

He continued to talk about Barkley.  “To come into a school like USC and play right away and handle all that pressure.  I couldn't even imagine the pressure he was under and how he handled it just fine.”  He told me that Barkley was the kind of guy you want on your team.  “He's been a great leader since right out of high school.  He's just a great guy on and off the field and there's nothing bad I could say about the guy.”

We talked about the tradition that exists at USC and what it was like to play there recently with the NCAA investigation and Coach Carroll leaving.  “We were all kind of heartbroken when Coach Carroll left because a lot of us, that's why we came to USC.”  He said the reason to go to USC was to play for Carroll and to play in big bowl games.

He talked about the impact of the sanctions.  He thinks the sanctions were unfair to the players that were there but he is able to see the big picture.  He said “I think it actually helped our program out a little bit.  It kind of brought us back down, you know it humbled us a little bit.”

He then said that they had nothing to play for at USC this past season except for each other and just to win.  He said that winning is exactly what USC football is about and “the sanctions just kind of brought that back for us, so I look at it as a good thing.”  It was impressive to hear a young man talk about adversity in this way and it impressed me that he has this big picture mentality.

We talked a little more about his time at USC and he told me that it doesn’t get much better than beating your rival UCLA by 50 points in your last game as a Trojan.  He said “At the Coliseum with all our fans, with our friends and our family.  I mean it felt better than winning a bowl game or Rose Bowl or something like that, so that was definitely my favorite moment at USC.”

We talked about what comes next for him.  He said that he feels like he can offer a lot of things to an NFL football team.  I asked what his specific strengths were.  He said “versatility, whatever they want me to do as a tight end or as a movement tight end, a fullback or on special teams.”  He said he just wants to play football and he would do whatever a team needs him to do.  “You know it doesn't matter to me, blocking, getting the ball, it doesn't matter.”

We talked about how the tight end game is changing, perhaps faster and more differently than any other position in football.  He said he appreciates all kinds of tight ends but the one player that stood out to him was Bear Pascoe for the New York Giants. 

He said that Pascoe does a lot of movement-type stuff that he does and is not a flashy receiver type of tight end.  He said that Pascoe was very technically sound and “he can really play the position and he respects tight ends like that.”

When I asked him what he would tell the fans of the team that drafts him he told me that football was “about winning Super Bowls” and that “you play football to win games.”

Rhett Ellison is a very versatile football player and he can help a team in multiple ways.  He has shown that he can be productive in very quiet ways whether that’s in pass protection or on special teams.  Ellison is the kind of player and person that will find his way onto the field and be productive when he gets there.

Scott Bischoff is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials.