Listed at 6-foot-5, 266 pounds Phillips is a redshirt xophomore who was a five-star recruit and No. 3 nationally-ranked recruit on the ESPN 300 list. He originally committed to UCLA where he dealt with injuries to his wrist, ankle, and concussions on three separate occasions. He medically retired from UCLA and while all of the details are unclear, its worth mentioning in his evaluation.
Phillips is a tall and long athlete with a developed body type. He is a heavy handed pass rusher who shows the baseline understanding of how to ”wax on, wax off” with his hands. Phillips can swipe, rip and bend the corner.
He isn’t explosive off the edge but he has the foot speed and rush intelligence to threaten the edge. Most importantly, what starts to separate him from other rushers in this class is his ability to finish once he gets to the quarterback. He is an effective run defender and is strong enough to set the edge, but doesn’t always play with extended arms and allows the ball to bounce outside of him.
He can rush from both a two-point and three-point stance. He can win with quickness and can kick inside on occasion or work TE stunts to win gaps. Phillips will need to continue to diversify his rush plan and use better technique as a run defender, but he is a high upside rusher that can play meaningful snaps immediately and still has room to grow and develop as a player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0dmTbOM4OY
Dane Brugler, THE ATHLETIC
Edge Rank: 3rd
Scouting Report:
A one-year starter at Miami, Phillips lined up at left defensive end in head coach Manny Diaz’s scheme and stood up and rushed with his hand on the ground. After medically retiring following his third concussion in college, he transferred from UCLA to Miami and reminded the football world why he was the No. 1 recruit in the 2017 class. He led the Hurricanes with 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks (both second in ACC).
With his natural twitch, Phillips is very smooth in his upfield attack and redirect, He uses his hands/reach as weapons and rushes with his curls on fire. His eyes stay locked on the ball and he sees through blockers, which makes him equally productive vs. the run and the pass. Overall, Phillips has first-round talent with his body type, twitchy athleticism and nose for the football, but the medical feedback will ultimately decide his NFL Draft grade. He projects as a high-energy rusher similar to Ryan Kerrigan when healthy.
Where He Fits
Phillips is probably best as a left end at the next level but with the Cowboys he would line up on the right side. He would give the Cowboys a versatile run defender and pass rusher opposite Demarcus Lawrence. Phillips would end up in rotation with Randy Gregory, Dorance Armstrong and newly acquired Tarell Basham.
Most draft analyst have him pegged as a middle-to-end-of-the-first prospect, which I generally agree with as I have a 1st-2nd round grade on him. The hope is that he slides to the second round. With ten picks in this years draft and four picks in the top 100 the Cowboys have the ammo to move up if Phillips starts to slide close enough to their second-round pick.
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