The 2023 waiver claim has starting leaving his mark outside of special teams.
When the New England Patriots claimed Christian Elliss off waivers last December, they primarily did so with their kicking game in mind. Indeed, all 87 of his snaps for the remainder of the 2023 season came on special teams.
Heading into his second season with the team, however, his role started to change. While still a core presence in the game’s third phase, he also steadily increased his reps at his listed position of off-the-ball linebacker.
Heading into Week 7, the 25-year-old is now pushing for a regular spot in the rotation.
“He’ll definitely have an opportunity,” defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington told reporters on Thursday. “I think he’s done a really good job with our special teams. He’s done a really good job on third down for us. We can see if we can expand that role on early downs.”
Elliss originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021. After spending his rookie season between Minnesota, Philadelphia and Arizona, he was able to find some staying power after returning to the Eagles. Appearing in 22 games for the club over three seasons, he proved himself a valuable special teamer and capable rotational linebacker.
However, when the Eagles signed former All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard last year they decided to expose Elliss to waivers. The Patriots, sitting in the second overall position in the claim order at the time, beat out five other teams to bring him aboard.
They apparently liked what they saw, and that did not change after his arrival. Not only did they tender Elliss as an exclusive rights free agent the following March, they also decided to use the Mack Wilson blueprint on him by steadily expanding his role.
“You look at last year, we had Mack Wilson who was in that role,” explained Covington. “As we got toward the middle of the season, we started putting more on his plate. And really, we saw how Mack Wilson came along from an early-down to a third-down player. The same thing with Christian: special teams player, banked up all the reps on defense.
“And that was the difference, too. He was more of a special teams player last year, focus and emphasis, whereas this year, he was in all the defensive meetings, locked in, made sure he was good for early down, third down, all the above. He took those reps and practice in OTAs, training camp. We’re talking about taking advantage of the opportunities, that’s what he’s doing. Taking advantage of the opportunities which have been given to him.”
Part of that opportunity was the Patriots losing starting Mike linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley to a season-ending pectoral injury. With the team having a hard time replacing the team captain — Raekwon McMillan has struggled as the next man up — the door opened for Elliss to step up.
So far, it appears he has done that. After playing only six total snaps on defense over the first three weeks of the season, he has been on the field for 63 the last three.
While that uptick is not massive, it is proof that the team is viewing him as potential part of their solution when it comes to filling the massive void created by Bentley’s departure. Elliss performance behind the scenes going back to the spring has apparently given Covington and company confidence in his ability to play such a role.
“No role is too small,” he said. “If you do great things in the small things, and then you are able to get more.”