UCLA Football: Ellis McCarthy Is Apparently A Monster

When UCLA signed their 2012 football recruiting class, the gem of the crew was Ellis McCarthy, a five-star defensive tackle that defected from Cal and chose UCLA on short notice.

When that happened, fans got excited about the big guy. After seeing him walk around during spring practice, UCLA nuts raved about his massive size and frame, and he looked like a man among boys.

We’ve had to wait awhile to see just how he looked comparatively, as a result of Ellis’ knee injuries.

He recently got back on the field, and according to our new favorite beat writer Miguel Melendez at Inside UCLA, he’s everything we hoped. Read a bit of what he had to say:

"But today it was the first time McCarthy really hit the field in 11-on-11s, and he looked good. Scary good. McCarthy is as good as advertised, maybe even better. He is a man among children, making Owa Odighizuwa and Donovan Carter look small when they were in as the second unit. In his first series, McCarthy and Jeff Baca had a nice matchup. The defense from the sidelines also was impressed, to say the least."

You really should read the whole thing, because Melendez gets into some serious detail about McCarthy. This is just scratching the surface.

But it’s an incredibly sexy surface. We figured McCarthy would be a total beast, but did we expect for him to be called a “man among children” by UCLA beat writers on his first shot at 11-on-11s? Did we expect McCarthy to give Baca “a nice matchup”?

Not this quick, and the dude’s only 18. If McCarthy still has a long way to go, the potential for creating a UCLA legend on the defensive line seems high.

We’re counting down to Rice.