2021 NFL Draft Film Breakdown: Jaelan Phillips

Recently here at Big Blue View the writers engaged in another roundtable discussion, this time focused on two potential options for the New York Giants with their pick in the first round: Kwity Paye or Gregory Rousseau.

Like many of the other writers, I tried to angle for a different option, one along the lines of “none of the above.” During that effort, I tried to steer readers in the direction of Jaelan Phillips, from Miami.

Allow me to elaborate.

True, there are medical concerns regarding Phillips. He suffered three different concussions during his time at UCLA, the third of which caused him to leave the sport entirely. However, he enrolled at Miami and eventually worked his way back to the field, and he might be very glad that he did. As we will see in this breakdown, Phillips has the kind of pass-rushing plan that works at all levels of the game:

With Leonard Williams back in the fold, Patrick Graham has a player on the inside that can generate pressure. Williams was integral to Graham’s sub packages and blitz schemes out of those personnel groupings. But with Phillips in the fold, Graham will have the kind of player who can win in one-on-one matchups on the outside. Furthermore, Phillips has shown the ability to win on the interior as well, and a 1-2 punch of Phillips and Williams in some sub packages on the outside? Well, that sounds mighty nice to me.