Christian Ellis
Safety
New Mexico
6-0, 202
1 year remaining (Sr.)
The Hokies added a fourth transfer portal safety on Thursday in New Mexico's Christian Ellis.
Let’s Do It!! ? #ThisIsHome #Hokies pic.twitter.com/hSNfffD8Vx
— Christian Ellis (@Christian_E22) January 9, 2025
He earned All-Mountain West Honorable Mention honors in 2024 after posting a team-high 99 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, five passes defended and an interception. He also had a 41-yard scoop and score in the first game of the year vs. Montana State.
Ellis joins Isaiah Cash (Sam Houston State), Sherrod Covil Jr. (Clemson) and Tyson Flowers (Rice) in Virginia Tech's rebuilt safety room. After losing 2,846 career snaps with the departures of Jaylen Jones (graduation), Mose Phillips (Missouri) and Jalen Stroman (portal), Tech's brought in 5,725 career snaps. The addition of Ellis gives the Hokies 11 scholarship safeties for 2025.
Ellis had solid PFF grades this season. Here's how they compared to the Hokies' safeties, along with the other new portal additions:
The Jacksonville, Fla., native spent three seasons in Albuquerque and compiled 161 tackles, 4.5 TFLs and defended nine passes over 31 games. He had four outings with double-digit tackles, the first of which came in September 2023 at UMass (10 tackles). In 2024, he had 11 vs. Montana State (Aug. 24), a career-high 14 at Utah State (Oct. 19) and 10 at Colorado State (Oct. 26). Moreover, his first career interception came at Arizona on Aug. 31.
Like Cash, Covil Jr. and Flowers, Ellis brings versatility to Tech's safety room. Here's a breakdown of where those guys played their snaps in 2024, along with their career snap counts in different positions:
A product of Edward H. White High School, he won state championships in both football and track & field in 2020. Defensively, he had 50 tackles, three TFLs, three sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He was a two-way player who thrived on offense, too, rushing for 1,457 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns as a senior. On top of that, Ellis won district titles in the 100-meter and 4x100-meter relay in track.
He was a three-star prospect in the class of 2022 and was the No. 1,414 player overall, per the 247Sports Composite. Kansas, Mississippi State and Wake Forest were his major offers out of high school, though he had plenty of interest from Group of Five schools, including Air Force, Army, Buffalo, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Liberty, UMass, Navy, Troy and Western Michigan.
After entering the transfer portal on Dec. 11, Ellis had interest from Arizona, Hawaii, Louisville, Mississippi State (again), Utah State and Washington, though he visited the Hokies in December and ultimately chose Virginia Tech.
Ellis is Tech's 16th commitment overall and the ninth defensive addition of this portal cycle. He joins the other three safeties and cornerbacks Isaiah Brown-Murray (East Carolina) and Joseph Reddish (Wingate) in the back end.
For more information on Virginia Tech’s comings and goings in the portal, click here for Tech Sideline’s roster management page.
Christian Ellis links:
247Sports New Mexico bio Twitter