Buffalo Bills: Re-grading each pick from the 2018 NFL Draft
Harrison Phillips
With the absence of a second-round pick, the Bills were called back to the podium late in the third round where they selected defensive tackle Harrison Phillips out of Stanford.
During his time as a Cardinal, the Omaha native won a litany of nominations in his senior year which includes: FWAA All-America second team (defensive tackle), AP All-America third team (defensive tackle), and an All-Pac-12 first-team nod. With notoriety like that, Phillips must have had an excellent collegiate career, which he did. In his 2017 season, he racked up 98 total tackles and 7.5 sacks that year.
With Buffalo, his NFL career has really had a chance to get started. In 2018, he played behind veterans Star Lotulelei and Kyle Williams. Then to make matters worse, and no fault of his own, he suffered a season-ending injury early last season and has rehabilitating it in order to return for the 2020 season.
In the games that Phillips was involved in, he has been semi-effective. He has been quick off the ball, using his 6-3, 307 pound frame to clog up the gaps and disturb the oppositions run game while recording 35 total tackles in his career.
It is hard to re-evaluate a player who has not been given the chance to start, suffered a season-ending injury on top of not being put in the position to succeed. When he returns from injury, it is expected that he will beat out Lotulelei for the other starting defensive tackle position and play alongside Oliver in the team’s 4-3 defense.