2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Clark Phillips

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Clark Phillips III, 5-9/184 Cornerback Utah

Clark Phillips III Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Super instinctive

Dangerous ball skills

Soft hands

Plays the ball well

Doesn’t panic when passes are coming his direction

Good feet

Natural cover corner

Runs the route with the receiver

Prevents separation

Fast

Can cover up speed receivers

Very athletic

Loose hips to turn and run with speed receivers

Recoverability

Quick to break on the ball

Good instincts

Can play off-man coverage

Able to handle zone coverage

Experienced

Good tackler

Successful against good college receivers

Should be able to play quickly

Upside

Weaknesses:

Could be limited to slot corner

Undersized

Could struggle with big receivers

Gets boxed out

Receivers can make catches over him

Could be picked on in the red zone

Not a fit for press-man duties

Missed a lot of tackles in ’22

Summary: The Utah defense has featured a lot of good NFL prospects in recent years, and Phillips proved he will keep that tradition alive in the 2023 NFL Draft. After recording one interception and 25 tackles in 2020, Phillips superb in 2021, totaling 61 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble and 13 passes broken up. He finished that season with an excellent game against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Phillips gave further proof to his ballhawking talents in 2022 with six interceptions, six passes broken up, and 24 tackles. The big drop in tackle production stemmed in part from missed tackles, and there were some suspicions among scouts that Phillips may have been protecting himself and trying to avoid injury.

Phillips’ excellent instincts are the first thing that stand out. He has tremendous feel, route-recognition, anticipation, and reaction skills to break up passes. Phillips is quick, athletic, and agile to run the route and prevent separation. While Phillips is not a big corner, he was a willing tackler in 2021. He could handle playing off-man or zone coverage in the NFL and would be a fit to line up in the slot.



The big negative with Phillips is size. Some advance scouts had his spring measurements at 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds. That could limit him to only playing at slot corner only in the NFL.

Last summer, One NFL team’s director of player personnel who had already done recent advance work on the prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft told WalterFootball.com they liked Phillips but were not necessarily in love just yet. “Clark is a super instinctive player,” said the director. “He’s a good player with a good skill set, but he’s undersized. He might end up being a de-facto No. 1 corner similar to a Byron Murphy, but Phillips could be more of an ideal No. 2.” In following up with that director, they said Phillips’ 2022 season was not as good as his 2021. They felt Phillips missed a lot of tackles and would be relegated to slot corner as a pro.

The true “base” defense in the current NFL is what teams call the nickel, which is when they play two linebackers while fielding three cornerbacks. In the passing- and quarterback-driven modern league, defenses are playing the nickel around 70 percent of their snaps, and there are games during which defenses are in their nickel set the entire game. Hence, having three quality cornerbacks is essential to putting a quality defense on the field. That should leave plenty of teams really considering Phillips in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Phillips will be a natural fit as a slot cornerback at the next level. He has the loose hips to turn and run with fast receivers as well as the foot speed to run with them. Phillips looks likely to be a second-day pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.



Player Comparison: Kenny Moore. Phillips and Moore have almost identical measurements along with similar styles of play. They are both undersized but skilled at running the route to prevent separation. Additionally, both have good feet, speed, athleticism, and ball skills. Moore is a very good pro corner, and Phillips has the potential to be similar to what, but maybe not quite as good as, Moore has become for the Colts.

2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern Jordan Addison, WR, USC Will Anderson, DE, Alabama Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State Steve Avila, G, TCU Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland Micah Baskerville, LB, LSU Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin Matthew Bergeron, OT, Syracuse Mekhi Blackmon, CB, USC Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU Brian Branch, S, Alabama Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Chase Brown, RB, Illinois Sydney Brown, S, Illinois Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisvile Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina Max Duggan, QB, TCU Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Notre Dame Isaiah Foskey, DE, Notre Dame Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon Derick Hall, OLB, Auburn Jaren Hall, QB, BYU Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor Antonio Johnson, S, Texas A&M Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU Broderick Jones, G, Georgia Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa Will Levis, QB, Kentucky Quan Martin, CB, Illinois Cody Mauch, G, North Dakota State Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Will McDonald, DE, Iowa State Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford Kendre Miller, RB, TCU Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss Cam Mitchell, CB, Northwestern Malachi Moore, S, Alabama Mike Morris, DE, Michigan Wanya Morris, OT, Oklahoma Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State Zion Nelson, OT, Miami B.J. Ojulari, OLB, LSU Demarvion Overshown, LB, Texas Owen Pappoe, LB, Auburn Jarrett Patterson, C, Notre Dame Clark Phillips, CB, Utah Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas Chris Rodriguez, RB, Kentucky Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee Joe Tippman, C, Wisconsin O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Tuli Tuipulotu, DE, USC D.J. Turner, CB, Michigan Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

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