Dannell Ellerbe’s plan is to continue to be a vital part of the Baltimore Ravens’ defense.

According to Ellerbe, since his rights are with the Ravens, he’s scheduled to sign another one-year contract in March to remain with the team for the 2010-11 season. Ellerbe was the only undrafted rookie Baltimore kept on the roster a season ago.

Ellerbe went from being a long shot of making the 53-man roster to starting the last three crucial regular season games and two playoff games at the inside linebacker position for the Ravens.

Ellerbe replaced second-year starter Tavares Goodman, who battled injuries during the season.

“It was a blessing, and I just took advantage of the opportunities given to me,” Ellerbe said.

Ellerbe tallied 41 total tackles on the season. During his season-ending press conference transcript on NFL.com, Ravens second-year coach John Harbaugh indicated that Ellerbe showed a lot of potential and he expects Ellerbe to be in the running for the starting inside linebacker spot.

But Harbaugh also explained that there should be plenty of competition for the starting gig as Baltimore should bring back a good group of young linebackers.

Nonetheless, Ellerbe is confident in his abilities and feels he will be the full-time starter for the upcoming season.

“I feel like I’ve earned the position and I’m just trying to keep going forward,” Ellerbe said. “But I fully understand that I’ve got to continue to stay hungry. We’ve got a lot of good linebackers on this team that are capable of stepping up and playing well.”

During his four-year career at the University of Georgia, Ellerbe was known for being a physical, aggressive linebacker who was solid in run support. Ellerbe was able to bring those attributes over to the Ravens.

But the 6-foot-1, 228-pound linebacker from Hamlet admitted that he must work on improving his pass coverage and pass rushing skills in the Ravens’ 3-4 defensive scheme.

“I’ve got to get better at guarding tight ends in space, and I’ve got to do a better job of getting to the quarterback,” Ellerbe said.

One of things that the Ravens found out about Ellerbe is his capability to be a playmaker, which he displayed in Baltimore’s biggest regular season contest of the year. The Ravens needed a win over the lowly Raiders in Week 17 to clinch the final wildcard spot in the AFC playoffs.

Baltimore held a precarious 14-13 lead late in the third quarter over Oakland, but Ellerbe came up with one of the biggest plays of the game when he recorded his first career interception off a pass from Raiders quarterback Jamarcus Russell.

Ellerbe’s pick set up Willis McGahee’s two-yard touchdown run, which extended Baltimore’s lead to 21-13 early in the fourth.

“It was crazy because when he (Russell) came into the game, the whole crowd starting booing him,” Ellerbe said. “We were in a Cover 2 defense. I was guarding the tight end and I was trying to keep him from getting inside. I just broke for the ball and caught it.”

Ellerbe made another important play in the win when he recovered a fumble off Russell at the Ravens’ 23-yard line that eventually helped seal the Ravens’ playoff birth.

Following the contest, Harbaugh and Ravens’ star linebacker Ray Lewis praised Ellerbe for his impact in the significant victory.

Ellerbe said he was given two game balls for his performance. Ellerbe added that contributing in the win over the Raiders was special because he thought before the draft that he would be a member of the Silver and Black.

“It meant a lot to me to play well against Oakland because it was the only team that I visited, and they made it seem like they were interested in me,” Ellerbe said. “I just wanted them to see what they missed out on.”

Ellerbe went on to make his first career playoff start the following week when the Ravens played the Patriots in the AFC Wild Card game.

Ironically, New England was the team Ellerbe made his first start against, when he finished with five tackles.

“My first game I started felt like a playoff game for me,” Ellerbe said. “But to be a rookie, to know what I had to overcome and be starting in a playoff game was just a blessing. Regular season games are intense, but playoff games are even more intense, because if you lose, then you’ve got to pack up and get ready for next season.”

Baltimore avenged a 27-21 Week 4 loss to New England, as the sixth-seeded Ravens dominated the Pats at home from start to finish with an impressive 33-14 victory.

Ellerbe, who had six tackles, said the Ravens believed they were going to get their revenge in the rematch.

“I wasn’t surprised by the way we played,” he said.

“We should have beaten them the first time, and we could tell they thought they were going to send us back home with a loss. We played with a chip on our shoulder. We felt all along that we were going to be a team to be reckon with once we got into the playoffs.”

But the season came to an end a week later as Baltimore fell 20-3 to eventual AFC champion Indianapolis in the divisional round.

“We just couldn’t score, and the Colts had a good defense,” Ellerbe said.

“I felt the defense played good to hold an offense like the Colts to only 20 points.”

Despite the Ravens being eliminated from the postseason, Ellerbe did have his finest game of the season with a career-high 14 tackles.

“I think they had me down for 10 tackles, but when the coaches broke down the film that they saw that I had four more,” Ellerbe said. “I wish we would have won, but to get double digit tackles in a playoff game as a rookie was big.”

Right now, Ellerbe said he’s just resting his body, but he’ll start doing some light workouts next week in preparation for the Ravens’ offseason practices.

Ellerbe said the main thing he wants to do is remain injury-free going into training camp.

Ellerbe had to overcome injuries during camp last summer.

Ellerbe has also overcome some off-the-field issues that were a factor in him not being drafted.

Ellerbe’s former Richmond Raider teammate Jamar Bryant dealt with some troubles also when he played at East Carolina.

Now Bryant is hoping to be drafted as a receiver in the upcoming NFL draft. Ellerbe has a message to his fellow Raider.

“People are going to say that you can’t make it, but you’ve got to believe in yourself,” Ellerbe said. “They said the same thing about me, but I’m doing it and I know he can make it as well.”

Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com