Mel Kiper Mock Draft: Titans select edge rusher Jaelan Phillips

Mel Kiper Jr. is back with his second mock draft of the season this morning, and he’s awarded the Titans another edge rusher. Jon Robinson is looking to finally fix up the pass rush for good, which has been lacking for past few seasons on the edge.

Kiper gave the Titans pass rusher Jaelan Phillips out of Miami. Here’s what he had to say about the selection.

As I mentioned in my Mock 1.0, the Titans have to be all over the edge rushers in this class. Their defense really lacked any pass rush last season, getting virtually nothing from Jadeveon Clowney and finishing with just 19 total sacks. They’d be happy with Phillips still on the board. The UCLA transfer and former five-star prospect really came on last season and is rising quickly. Phillips had concussions issues at UCLA, so his medical checks will be important. But I love his 2020 tape.

Miami pass rusher Gregory Rousseau went one spot ahead of the Titans at pick 21 to the Colts, while Kwity Paye and Azeez Ojulari remained on the board.

Phillips stands in at 6-5, 258 pounds. The former top recruit logged seven sacks as a freshman at UCLA. He transferred to Miami for his junior season, where he was able to put up an eight sack season, along with 15.5 tackles for loss. Per 247Sports, Phillips was the second overall ranked player in the recruiting class of 2017.

He’s a prototypical pass rusher with all the tools, maybe just lacking a little production. As Kiper points out, his medical checks will be the key here as teams evaluate his concussion history.

The NFL Draft is set for Thursday, April 29th and will run through May 1st.