And in this corner, another Terp
Ellis, Lewis seeking to build on Maryland history of producing NFL cornerbacks
The walls of the defensive backs meeting room inside Maryland’s football training facility are plastered with photos of former All-American, All-Atlantic Coast Conference and All-Big Ten selections like safety Madieu Williams, who spent four of his nine seasons in the NFLwith the Cincinnati Bengals, and cornerback Domonique Foxworth, who played his final three seasons of a seven-year career for the Ravens.
Those predecessors are all the inspiration that 22-year-old Reisterstown resident Tino Ellis needs.
“In our cornerbacks room, we have pictures of all of the guys that were All-Americans, All-ACC and All-Big Ten — guys like [cornerback] Will Likely and Madieu Williams, and we all look up to them,” the 6-foot-1 and 195-pound cornerback said. “We’ve watched their film and have tried to break them down. We know that’s the standard of a Maryland cornerback, and we try to live up to that.”
The Terps have recently developed a pipeline for cornerbacks to the NFL. Since Foxworth was selected by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 2005 draft, the program has watched six cornerbacks get taken in the draft — the most from a single position produced by the school. And that list doesn’t include Likely and J.C. Jackson, who were signed as undrafted rookie free agents by the New England Patriots in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The last Maryland cornerback chosen in a draft was Dexter McDougle in the third round by the New York Jets in 2014. Ellis and Marcus Lewis, who is one year older than his teammate, hope they will end the mini-drought by hearing their names in the draft, which is set to run Thursday through Saturday.
“Just to have my name even associated with those guys is a great thing,” the 6-1, 197-pound Lewis said. “Those are some really good players, and it’s something that I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. So being mentioned next to those names for Tino and me, that’s just a great thing.”
Terps coach Mike Locksley tends to keep his eyes on the offensive side of the ball, but said that the one thread that links many of the programs former and current cornerbacks is their athleticism.
“Playing the corner position is one of those athletic positions, and this area has produced quite a few great athletes – not just at Maryland, but at quite a few other places,” he said. “But for Maryland, with the way offenses have continued to develop, you seen the ball get thrown a lot more, and our guys have had opportunities to show the skill set necessary to play corner at high level.”
Ellis and Lewis opened the 2019 season as the starting cornerbacks, raising expectations that the team had its best tandem in recent memory. And through the first five games, they had combined for19 tackles and three pass breakups.
But in the first quarter of the sixth game at Purdue on Oct. 12, Ellis tore his right pectoral muscle while tackling the holder on a fake field goal in the first quarter at
Purdue. Three days later, on his 22nd birthday, he underwent surgery and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.
“I was heartbroken,” Ellis said. “I had never experienced a serious injury in my whole entire time of playing football, which I did since I was five. So to come all this way and to be a senior and try to represent your state and your school and play for the guy next to you and leave like that, it was heartbreaking. But I’m fine now, and I’m ready to move on from that.”
Freshman Deonte Banks replaced Ellis and fared decently, but the burden was on Lewis, a Florida State transfer and resident of District Heights in Prince George’s
County, to fortify the pass defense.
“That was a big loss for us because Tino brings a lot to our team not only as a player,” said Lewis, who finished the season tied for first on the team in interceptions (two) and added 33 tackles and one fumble recovery. “He’s a great leader. He leads by example. So not having him around, that really took a toll on us not having his leadership.”
Locksley said he can envision both Ellis and Lewis landing with NFL franchises.
“For both of those guys, Marcus’ speed jumps out to me, and with Tino, it’s ball skills,” he said. “He’s a converted receiver that played some DBin high school, but was a big-time receiver coming out, and he can play the ball in the air. So for both of those guys, their skill sets translate to the next level pretty well.”
Ellis and Lewis said that they would be thrilled to extend the program’s tradition of producing NFL-caliber cornerbacks, and Ellis said he and Lewis share a certain quality with the their predecessors.
“I believe all of the cornerbacks have that want-to, the will of trying to be the best and pushing each other and wanting to be better,” he said. “We want to represent our state and represent University of Maryland football against the top programs such as Michigan State and Penn State. When we were in the ACC, it was Florida State and schools like that. I believe that pushes us and gives us that tenacity.”
Ellis and Lewis are as tight off the field as they were on it. For three years, they lived one floor apart in the same on-campus dorm, and Ellis would often pick up Lewis for meal runs to Chipotle. They also enjoyed playing the “Madden” video game and listening to music by rapper Chief Keef.
So Lewis said there is no competition between the two when it comes to getting to the next level.
“We talked about how much of a blessing it would be,” he said. “Tino’s a guy that I’ve been going against since high school. He went to DeMatha, and I went to Gonzaga and just for us to come from the same league and the same area and have the opportunity to play in the NFL, it would be a dream come true.”