When you look to the Indiana Hoosiers’ roster, David Ellis -- a true freshman from Chippewa Valley High School in Michigan -- doesn’t have a designated position just yet. He’s listed as an athlete.
In his final year at Chippewa Valley, he garnered playing time at numerous positions. Ellis was a receiver and a running back on offense, a cornerback and safety on defense, and the team’s primary return man on special teams.
Despite inexperience at the collegiate level, he possesses a skill set that has the potential to impact Indiana's program sooner rather than later.
Ellis saw the field in his first collegiate game against Ball State last Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. He wasn’t a major part of the game plan, nor was he even a deciding factor in the Hoosiers’ 34-24 victory.
However, he made the most of his touches during the game, showing that just a small spark can create an electric response on the sidelines.
After junior running back Cole Gest took the Hoosiers’ first kickoff of the game, it was Ellis who took the field in his place during the following returns. He fielded four kickoff returns amounting 104 yards, with his longest being 33 yards.
Ellis has a knack for returning kicks, dating back to his high school career. As a senior at Chippewa Valley, Ellis accumulated 1700 all-purpose yards and scored 20 touchdowns, including five on special teams.
His biggest play against Ball State came early in the fourth quarter, following a two-yard score from sophomore running back Stevie Scott. The Hoosiers needed a two-point conversion to make it a 14-point game.
Offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer called upon Ellis’ number on a trick play. Ellis took a reverse pitch from redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. and sprinted to the right side of the offensive. From there, Ellis had to read the defense and decide whether to throw to a primary target that leaked out of the formation, or run the ball himself.
He did neither, and instead threw the ball to sophomore tight end Peyton Hendershot, who was streaking along the back of the end zone.
“We thought he was going to run it because we just figured that’s how they were going to play it,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said after Saturday’s game. “His first read was covered, and then he threw it to a guy we never threw it to in practice. And he’s a true freshman, so that was pretty impressive.”
Hendershot did a great job adjusting to the play as if it were a quarterback scrambling out of the pocket. When he saw Ellis was in trouble, he rightfully abandoned his assignment and became a target for the true freshman athlete.
“I was supposed to just be a decoy running across the back of the end zone,” Hendershot said on Monday. “I saw I was open so I started waving to him. That’s how it worked out.”
After the play was over, Ellis celebrated with Penix Jr. and alluded pursuing the job as Indiana’s starting quarterback.
Despite Penix Jr. winning a quarterback competition over junior Peyton Ramsey and redshirt freshman Jack Tuttle, Ellis didn’t shy away from voicing his confidence and joking with him about potentially taking future snaps on offense.
“I did not expect him to do that,” Penix Jr. said of Ellis after Saturday’s game. “He actually read the defense, it was really surprising. I was real proud of him. He was excited himself, he told me ‘I’m coming for your spot.’”
While Ellis doesn’t have experience as a signal-caller, his high school team utilized his athleticism on offense to exploit mismatches of size and speed against opposing defenses.
Last year, Ellis lead the Chippewa Valley Big Reds to a perfect, 14-0 record en route to the program’s first state championship since 2001.
The Chippewa Valley offense aligned Ellis primarily in the slot on offense, where he could take advantage of passing plays over the middle of the field, but also have an optimal alignment for screens and jet sweeps.
He was also the team’s primary running back when the offense lined up in personnel packages with zero wide receivers. It was in a formation with two tight ends and three running backs behind the line where Ellis took a handoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the 2018 regional final against Fordson High School.
His versatility in every phase of the game drew interest from the likes of Central Michigan, Ball State and Western Michigan, but after de-committing from Western Michigan, it’ll be Indiana that gets to implement him into its offense.
This year, Ellis is buried beneath an experienced receiving corps on the Indiana depth chart. However, the departure of fifth-year seniors Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale at the season’s end will leave a void at the position.
Ellis could potentially step in and contribute at the start of DeBoer’s second season as the offensive coordinator.
With just one collegiate game under his belt, eyes will be watching Ellis in the coming weeks to see what type of immediate impact he can make for an Indiana offense that has struggled in recent years, while also generating excitement for what he can become in the future.
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