NFL Analysis
4/26/24
4 min read
Andru Phillips 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For New York Giants CB
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Andru Phillips.
Andru Phillips' 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 5-foot-10 3/4
- Weight: 190
- Arm length: 31 1/4"
- 40-yard dash: 4.48
- 10-yard split: 1.51
- Vertical jump: 42"
- Broad jump: 11'3"
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.29
Andru Phillips 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- Smooth corner with quick feet and fluid transition and change of direction traits. Can flip and open his hips.
- Quick, sudden feet in mirror match press man. Easily flipped his hips to open stride to run with vertical routes.
- Strong man coverage snaps from the slot with the short-area burst to match and the speed to run with crossers.
- Top-end speed to run with vertical routes. Opened his hips and stayed in phase in a good position to make a play.
- Good job on vertical routes, getting his head turned to locate the ball. Did not make picks but solid ball production.
- Quick feet to stop and plant to drive on routes in front of him and transition laterally with burst on in-breakers.
- Extensive experience in off coverage, showing the quick, sudden feet to stop, transition and drive on throws.
- Competitive, aggressive and intense as a tackler. Willing to hit. Embraced the physical nature of the game.
- Outstanding playing personality. Highly competitive and physically and mentally tough. High-intensity player.
WEAKNESSES
- Size and lack of length can, at times, be an issue on vertical routes, negatively impacting ability to play the ball.
- Turned his body in side saddle technique from off coverage, making him susceptible to routes crossing his face.
- Too many intermediate and vertical routes in man, he lost contact with the ball in the air, allowing late separation.
NFL TRANSITION
Phillips was a fun player to watch and evaluate, given his extensive experience playing outside and in the slot in Kentucky’s defense. My strong sense is that he will likely project and transition to the next level as a slot corner. There’s no question that there are NFL corners who play on the outside with the height/weight and arm length measurables of Phillips, but he does not play big on tape.
He plays like a smaller, quick-sudden athlete who is best suited to play the slot. Phillips showed light, quick feet with loose hips, smooth transitions, and a change of direction, easily flipping his hips and opening his stride when he had to turn and run vertical routes.
Phillips has the footwork and sudden twitch to play mirror match press man, but he also played a high percentage of off coverage, where his hip fluidity, short-area quickness and burst to plant and drive and react laterally showed up on tape. Phillips played more man coverage in the slot than he did on the outside, and he showed the quickness, burst and play speed to match multiple routes and impact both the receiver and the throw.
Overall, Phillips does bring outside-inside versatility as you transition him to the NFL and while he is not necessarily too small to play effectively on the outside, my strong sense is that most teams will project him as a slot corner. Is there a comparison to be made to Roger McCreary when he came out of Auburn? McCreary has played outside and the slot with the Titans but is better suited to play inside, where he has a chance to become a good player.
OTHER NOTES
Phillips played four years at Kentucky becoming a full-time starter in 2023. He finished his college career with 16 starts in 38 games.
Phillips was predominantly the field outside corner in the Kentucky defense, but he also played significant snaps in the slot (31 percent of his snaps). In 2022, Phillips played more than twice as many snaps in the slot as he did outside.
There were snaps in which Phillips sunk from slot corner alignment to play half field safety in cover 2, and snaps in which he was deployed as a blitzer when aligned as the slot corner. There were man-to-man snaps versus Georgia, where Phillips matched up with Brock Bowers.
