Harrison Phillips bulked up and moved from defensive end to defensive tackle in his college career. Where will he end up in the 2018 NFL Draft?
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When it comes to the trenches, Stanford has long been more renowned for churning out offensive talent than defensive stars. That has begun to change, however. Solomon Thomas was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Harrison Phillips is an unlikely candidate to join Thomas as a top-three selection. But the defensive tackle could still become a first-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft after a strong performance at the NFL Combine.
Over a four-year career at Stanford, Harrison Phillips developed into the school’s next great defensive lineman. Phillips was consistent, notching seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss in his first season starting as a junior. Last season as a senior, Phillips finished with 7.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss to go with 98 total tackles as Stanford won the Pac-12 North.
Now he sets his sights on trying to vault from a second-day projection into a first-round pick. Phillips finished as the best of all 242 NFL Draft prospects who took a shot at the bench press in Indianapolis, hefting 42 reps. He also tied for fifth among defensive linemen in the three-cone drill, showing he is more than just raw strength.
A generation ago, the Omaha native would have been a model Cornhusker on his way to NFL stardom. Instead he went west to California to soak up the sunshine and study at one of the most heralded academic institutions in the country. It paid off with success in the Pac-12 as Phillips matured into a star away from home.
Strengths
For Phillips, his greatest strength is… well, strength. And that strength goes well beyond merely lifting more reps in the bench press than anybody else in his NFL Draft class. Phillips was a two-time national champion in high school wrestling, showcasing an agility to go with that raw power.
Phillips is skilled at fending off tying up multiple blockers. He can fight off multiple blocks to get into the backfield. The Cardinal lineman is also adept at opening up gaps for linebackers to meet ballcarriers at the point of attack. With 14.5 sacks and 27 tackles for loss in two starting campaigns, Phillips has shown he can produce inside as well as shifting around in multiple fronts.
Weaknesses
While Phillips is intelligent and productive, there is only so much that intelligence can compensate for size. That sounds funny to talk about when discussing
Phillips was 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds as a freshman defensive end. After exhausting his eligibility on The Farm, Phillips leaves Palo Alto over 300 pounds and playing primarily as an interior lineman.
But while he has the instincts of an edge rusher and the ability to succeed in the Pac-12 inside, he is unlikely to add much more weight after adding 52 pounds over his college career. Whether he is oversized for an edge position, undersized for an interior spot in the NFL, or a little bit of both remains to be seen. That could turn some teams looking elsewhere for a more malleable prospect.
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Draft expectations
Phillips is one of those players who offers a high-risk/high-reward proposition. If he can produce in the NFL as effectively as he did against Pac-12 competition, despite being undersized for an interior position in the 21st-century pro game, Phillips offers incredible value for a team hoping to strike it big in a defensive rebuild.
That value will become more evident over time, however, as Phillips is skipped over through several rounds before some team nabs him in the late selections of the third round. The Stanford man won’t last until the third day, but he will have to wait deep into the second to know his fate.
Projection: Late third-round pick