Kenny Phillips, 2008 NFL Draft Prospect

 Scouting Report by John L. Clarke

When thinking of the University of Miami defenses of the past, big names jump out at you: Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Dan Morgan, Jonathan Vilma…..and the list goes on and on.  Well, the Hurricanes might just have another defensive standout on their hands by the name of Kenny Phillips.  Phillips is coming off of a great sophomore campaign after having a solid freshman year. 

While coming on to start as a true freshman, Phillips made his impact immediately.  During his first start, at Clemson, he led the team in tackles with 13 and also made the game winning interception in the 3^rd overtime.  He ended up finishing 3^rd on the team in tackles (88) that year and was named to virtually every All-Freshman team that year. 

His sophomore year was no let down, as Phillips built on his All everything Freshman year.  Phillips started to fill out his frame and his coach moved him into the box on occasion to support the run game.  He ended the season finishing 4^th in tackles with 71 and led the team with 4 interceptions, despite missing 3 games with a broken thumb.  He is durable, however, as he fought the coaches to keep playing with a cast on, but lost the argument.

He is a very quick learner and leader on football field, but he also showed his intelligence off the field, after being chosen to the 2006 ACC Academic Football Team.  Although Miami stumbled from their football dominance as a team last year, the defense still played outstanding and with an experienced secondary and defensive line returning, Phillips can be allowed to be the playmaker he is.

As for the NFL Draft of 2008, he projects as the top safety and could be a lock for a top ten NFL Draft pick if he excels this season.  With his size, strength and speed, he garners special attention, but add onto his physical attributes with his mental ones, such as leadership and intelligence, and his worth is limitless.  Not surprising, since UM coaches say he has "the body of Sean Taylor and the knowledge and speed of Ed Reed", which makes him a dangerous defensive weapon.  So, look for Ed Taylor or Sean Reed (snicker) to live up to the hype and produce for the Hurricanes.  He has experience at free safety as a ball hawk, strong safety as an in the box run stopper and even some corner with fine tuned man to man cover skills.  He does have limited experience as a blitzer, but look for the ‘Canes to use him in that capacity with a veteran secondary covering his assignments and a defensive line filling gaps.

UPDATE:

Although not having the ALL-Universe year as was expected from this talented Junior, Phillips still heads a very shaky Safety class. 

KENNY PHILLIPS' CAREER STATISTICS:

KENNY PHILLIPS' CAREER ACCOLADES:

2005 –

·         All-Freshman teams by The Sporting News, Rivals.com and CollegeFootballNews.com

·         Voted to the All-ACC Freshman Team

2006 –

·         Selected 3rd Team All-America

·          Voted to the 2nd Team All-ACC

·         Team Defensive Back MVP

2007 –

·         Selected 3rd Team All-American

·         Voted to the All-ACC 1st Team

·         Semi-Finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award (Best Defensive Back)