Linebacker Kenneth Phillips was supposed to sign with Texas A&M last year, but a catastrophic knee injury changed that. After a long recovery, Phillips has finally made things official.
Height/Weight: 6 foot, 205 pounds
Commitment date: July 4, 2019
Chose A&M over: Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Houston
Analysis
Phillips' versatility was one of the things that sold A&M on him, and he really does do a lot of things well. He plays linebacker, defensive back on occasion and is a very efficient wildcat quarterback.
One of the things that struck me from his clips at linebacker was his ability to get to the football. He does a great job of working through traffic, keeping his eyes on the ballcarrier and then making the play. It's nice to see that he doesn't go for the big hit with his shoulder, but wraps up properly and takes the back down to the ground.
His speed is fine for a linebacker, but his agility is really good. His cuts as a wildcat quarterback are really sharp, and he changes direction really well. He makes sure that defenders miss him, but when he's on defense, it makes it a lot less likely that he's going to miss the ballcarrier. You have to like someone with good lateral movement who can quickly change direction to break on the ball.
Phillips is a little bit undersized, but the role he described sounds like a good one for him. It sounds like a Rover with more pass coverage responsibilities. But Phillips will likely have time to develop physically and get used to his new role, as they won't be forced to put him out on the field immediately due to a lack of numbers.
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