Miami Hurricanes DE Jaelan Phillips top 10 PFF Pro Days performers

After one full season playing college football, Miami Hurricanes defensive end Jaelan Phillips is moving up NFL Draft boards following a scintillating performance during Pro Day. Pro Football Focus named Phillips one of their top 10 performers during Pro Days. Phillips is currently 30th on the PFF Big Board.

On their Big Board, PFF is concerned about the injury history Phillips had while playing at UCLA. Phillips suffered from concussions and incurred a wrist injury following a moped accident while enrolled at UCLA. In his one season with the Miami Hurricanes, Phillips became a second-team All-American.

Phillips tied for the lead among Miami defensive linemen in 2021 with 45 tackles and paced the Hurricanes upfront with 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. The performance Phillips had on Miami Pro Day would have become legendary if it had occurred at the NFL Combine which was canceled in 2021 because of COVID-19.

Phillips was in the 80th percentile in at least six of the 11 events he performed in. The 4.56 40-yard dash Phillips ran was better than some skill position players on offense who PFF profiled among the best and worst performers on Pro Day. Phillips should be drafted higher than his ranking of 30th.

"“What an all-around performance from the former five-star recruit. There wasn’t one particular drill for Phillips to hang his hat on, but he ticked every single box you’d want him to at a high level.”EDGE JAELAN PHILLIPS, MIAMI (FL)HeightWeight40 Time20 Time10 TimeBenchVerticalBroadShuttle3 ConeArmHandWingspan77.4”2604.56s2.62s1.59s2136”125”4.13s7.01s33.25”9.75”80.75”"

The performance by Phillips was more impressive when you consider that his Miami teammates, tight end Brevin Jordan and DE Greg Rousseau were named among the bottom 10 performers per PFF on Pro Day. Pro Day takes on an added significance this year because of the cancelation of the NFL Combine.

Phillips has had an exceptional comeback after being named the top-ranked player in the Class of 2017 coming out of high school. Four years later, Phillips is not tanked as high but has played himself into a first-round pick later this month. The skill set Phillips brings will help an NFL team for years to come.