Jets OK with risk vs. reward on Ellis

Assessing the risk-reward quotient for young football players has been a constant area of emphasis in the NFL, particularly in recent years, when so much attention has focused on character issues for players entering the draft.

It's a tricky proposition trying to figure out whether a player who has stumbled in his college years can be trusted to mature at the NFL level.

The Buccaneers tried and failed with cornerback Aqib Talib, a former first-round pick considered a character risk coming into the draft. Garland, Texas, police have called Talib a "person of interest" in a shooting in late March.

The Titans tried and failed with cornerback Pacman Jones, another character risk coming into the pros who was involved in an incident in 2007 at a Las Vegas men's club that escalated into a shooting by a member of his entourage. Jones was traded by the Titans to the Cowboys in 2008, and after he was involved in an altercation with a bodyguard at a party in Dallas in 2008, the Cowboys ultimately released him.

Now it's the Jets who are taking a calculated risk on Hampton defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis, their third-round pick.

The 6-5, 346-pound Ellis unquestionably is a brilliant talent on the field. He starred at Hampton for three seasons, amassing 184 tackles, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He was drafted to replace Kris Jenkins, who was released in the offseason after suffering a second ACL tear in the 2010 opener.

But there's a catch: Ellis faces the possibility of prison time in connection with an assault charge stemming from an altercation on the Hampton campus last April in which a man's nose and jaw were broken. If found guilty of the felony charge, Ellis could face up to 20 years in prison.

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, however, said the team believes he will not face prison time.

Ellis also was kicked off the South Carolina football team as a redshirt freshman because of multiple failed tests for marijuana use, confirmed Ellis' lawyer-agent, Howard Shatsky, but he was not charged.

The Jamaican-born Ellis, who grew up playing soccer but took up football in high school, insists he has come to terms with his past issues.

"The stuff that I got into is in the past now," Ellis told reporters on a conference call shortly after being selected by the Jets. "I am human. I have made mistakes. I feel like from me making these mistakes, I have learned from them and have grown as a person."

Shatsky said he "spent more time with [Ellis] than any recruit in my 25 years in the business. He's one of the best kids I've been around. Tremendous work ethic. He doesn't want to be just another guy. He wants to be a Pro Bowler."

The risk-reward was tolerable for the Jets, who did extensive background checks on Ellis and were satisfied that he can work out his legal issues and be a productive member of the team.

"If we didn't feel he'd be successful here, we wouldn't have taken him," Tannenbaum said. "It was appropriate to take him where we took him."

If the gamble pays off, the Jets will have gotten a first-round talent with a third-round pick and addressed a major need.

If not, you can add Ellis to a list of failed risks that is all too familiar in the world of pro football.