Welcome back to the Dolphins Draft Film Room series. Today’s subject is number 18 overall selection, Jaelan Phillips, out of the University of Miami. The Dolphins wanted to add some speed, size, and athletic ability to the EDGE position, and Phillips has all of those in spades. 

Before we get into his film and talk about all the great things he does, there needs to be a conversation about his medical information. Phillips started as a heralded five-star recruit at UCLA before being forced to medically retire due to suffering a number of concussions. Obviously, the Dolphins medical staff is pretty comfortable with his medicals, and he had a healthy season at Miami, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on. 

Phillips also sustained injuries to his wrist and knee throughout his college career. We aren’t talking about one issue with Phillips. He’s an injury-prone player. 

Okay, enough negativity. Phillips can give the Dolphins some juice on the EDGE they haven’t had in some time. Let’s break it down. 

 

The first question I always ask myself when evaluating EDGE rushers is whether or not they can bend and corner to the quarterback. Most of the NFL’s best EDGE players win this way, and it is a good barometer for athletic ability, which also correlates well with NFL success for pass rushers. 

This game against UAB was the first of the season, so Phillips passed the test quite early. Phillips actually has a false step out of his stance, but he is so explosive it doesn’t end up mattering because he still beats the tackle to the apex of the outside arc. 

Phillips does a really nice job using a rip move to get the hands of the OT off him as he starts to bend the corner. Phillips is pretty hit or miss with this part of the rush, but when he lands it, there is probably going to be a sack soon after. 

Once Phillips uses the rip, he constricts his hips and bends his ankles to turn an incredibly tight corner to the quarterback. The ball gets out before he can get there, but this is about as good as an outside rush gets. 

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Something I recently learned about the EDGE and OT position is that the good ones have “answers” for their opponent’s moves and technique. Pass rushers and offensive tackles will take 40-50 pass reps against each other each game. For an EDGE to be successful, it is imperative to have multiple ways to get to a quarterback. If you only run the outside arc, then a good offensive tackle will have an answer for that. 

Phillips can clearly win the outside arc, but he also won a ton of reps with inside moves like the one above against Virginia Tech. There isn’t a ton to break down in this rep because simply put, the VT offensive tackle was not quick enough to keep up with Phillips. 

Phillips explodes off the ball and uses an inside swim move to get past the offensive tackle, who doesn’t even really get a hand on Phillips until he’s already past him. The important part of this play to note is Phillips being a diverse rusher who can win with a bend on the outside and explosiveness on the inside. 

 

We’ve established Phillips’ ability to win as both an outside and inside rusher already. However, the majority of EDGE rusher’s snaps will not end with them making a sack. Instead, you have to find ways to affect the game in other ways. J.J. Watt became one of the best EDGE players in the NFL partly because even when he wasn’t getting home for sacks, he was making an impact. 

Phillips finished the 2020 season with three passes defended, none more impressive than the one you see above. This is a designed quick throw. There is no way Phillips gets to the quarterback here. 

Knowing that, he uses power to collapse the offensive tackle into the pocket and then gets his hand up to deflect the pass. What’s crazy about this is Phillips’ arm length actually isn’t that impressive. He was measured with 33-inch arms, which ranks in just the 38th percentile for EDGE players, according to MockDraftable’s database. 

Phillips shows good timing and football IQ to know when to get his hands up. It’s not a flashy ability, but it will serve him well in the league if he can continue to do it well. 

 

Moving on from pass-rushing, let’s talk about Phillips run defense. I would argue this matters a fair bit less than his pass-rush ability, but to someone like Brian Flores, that probably isn’t the case. Flores spends a lot of time talking about “heavy hands” in relation to defensive lineman. 

Phillips’ hand placement in the running game can be a little erratic, but when he does land his punch, it could certainly be described as “heavy.” In the rep above, Phillips’ first punch shocks the offensive tackle’s pads establishing a win for Phillips. 

Phillips then extends his right arm to create separation between him and the offensive tackle. He finished the rip by using an arm-over move to disengage and make the play. This is about as textbook as stack and shed gets at the college level. Phillips has the size and traits to be effective down to down run defender, especially with a little more development. 

 

The other thing Phillips does well in the running game is play with effort. EDGE players are commonly left unblocked in college, which is becoming more and more common in the NFL. In these situations, effort really matters. 

Phillips is consistently collapsing down the line to make impressive tackles outside of his frame like the one you see above. This play does a good job showing how fast and explosive Phillips is. He gets down this line incredibly quickly, allowing him to get in on the stop. 

The offense isn’t really accounting for him on this play. They are leaving him unblocked and running to the opposite side of the field. The onus is on Phillips to get himself into the play, and he almost always does. I’m pretty confident his general hustle and effort is something Flores and Chris Grier fell in love with. 

 

Miami doesn’t typically ask their defensive lineman or outside linebackers to be penetration players against the run. With that said, Phillips certainly has the required juice to win reps like this which means Miami might allow him to once in a while. 

Here we see Phillips get hands-on early and just swipe the offensive tackle away as he gets inside the gap to make a tackle for loss in the backfield. This again shows Phillips’ violent hands and explosiveness off the line. 

An underrated part of his game is how good of a tackler he is. It is rare to see Phillips get into the backfield and not finish a tackle. 

 

Conclusion: 

Phillips is exactly the type of EDGE rusher the Dolphins needed. Andrew Van Ginkel and Emmanuel Ogbah are undoubtedly good players, but they do not have Phillips’ blend of size, speed, and power. 

I think my biggest on-the-field concern with Phillips heading into his rookie season is with his hand placement. He heavily relied on being bigger and faster than everyone else in college. His pass rush moves need to be refined with better placement. He can be a bit of a “flailer” at times. He keeps his hands moving but doesn’t always make contact with the opposing lineman. 

However, that is easily teachable, and given how well he tested, Phillips will be more athletic than a lot of NFL tackles too. Overall, despite the considerable risk with his injuries, Phillips projects as a high-impact player at one of the league’s primer positions.