Jaelan Phillips was in a sophomore slump… until the Cincy game!
The Miami Dolphins lost both the game and Tua Tagovailoa Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals. There’s no way to minimize the loss of Tua or the impact the injury had on the kid, but not all was negative in the effort. Among the bright notes, Jaelan Phillips finally had a game equal to his talent and draft selection this year. Sophomore slumps are quite common, and the hope is that we’ll see more games like Week 4 than Weeks 1-3 going forward.
There’s no questioning the Phillips’ talent, his speed, explosion, and athleticism jumps off the film. Phillips vs the Bengals offensive line was a crystal clear display of that. While it will take more than these skills to achieve Pro Bowl status, the best football software makes it clear that without a doubt a great foundation to build on.
Let’s take a look:
Phillips turns poor offensive lines into a sieve
Miami went back to using Phillips as they did in 2021 with a heavy does of stunts and twists. Against a poor Bengals offensive line, he was a monster with 17% pressure rate, 1 sack, 1 hit, and 3 hurries.
Phillips has unbelievable explosion and athleticism for a man 6’6” 266lbs.
In the first play, the jab step inside freezes the rookie left guard and before he can react, Phillips is parallel to him. All Volson can do is hold him and not even that works with the rip by Phillips, who is barely slowed in his rush at Burrow and the following sack.
…This time Phillips though continues out side and runs around Volson as if he is wearing cement shoes.
Phillips can cover quite well and has unbelievable range for a giant. His recovery and pursuit is rarely seen with a man of his size. Higgins is a fairly speedy receiver and can’t beat Phillips to the edge. Let that sink in for a minute!
Not everything is perfect with Phillip’s game
Phillips has deficiencies in his skillset and must fix them in order to reach the highest level of the sport. He is often compared to Jason Taylor… in some was it makes sense for their appearance. But, in many it’s not a good comp. While Phillips is the better athlete in speed, acceleration, and burst, Taylor was so much more violent, which helped in one-on-one pass rush and in run support. Let’s remember, Phillips isn’t a DE, he’s and edge player. Tayor was a defensive end and as a 235lbs rookie that started and excellent in run defense.
This is where the two differ. The hope is this will change as Phillips grows.
Quality run defense in a pass rusher let them get on the field more. On occasion, the expected run snap ends up a pass snap, so a pass rusher able to play the run well gets more pass rush opportunities. A defensive front player equally good at both run defense and pass rusher can set the table for them selves better than a pass specialist. It also allows them to see offense off schedule with long down and distance, which helps a defender get more pressure.
The future for Phillips
Phillips is still a good pick if this is who he is for the remainder of his career. The kid though has the potential for more, but a great indicator will be his ability to handle the run game, and add more tools to his pass rush tool kit. So far this season teams are using tight ends to block him in the run game and they are winning. When he starts beating them and demands tackles and guard to block him, it will be an amazing sign that this kid is headed for the pro bowl. If he can add the violent movement and strength to destroy tight ends, his pass rush with have more tools.
And if Phillips adds power AND speed on his resume… not many in this league will be able to stop him. Phillips using both power and speed will look like he did with the the Bengals poor O-line against the best in the league. Go Phins!!!