New York Giants draft Andru Phillips in third round of 2024 NFL Draft

The New York Giants have drafted former Kentucky defensive back Andru Phillips in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Phillips’ spent this past season as the Wildcats’ starting outside cornerback, where he recorded 4 tackles and four pass breakups during 11 appearances. A former three-star recruit from South Carolina, the former legacy recruit left Lexington with 79 tackles and nine pass breakups.

He is the latest Kentucky defensive back to be drafted after the Green Bay Packers spent a 7th round on Carrington Valentine last April. He credits Kentucky defensive backs coach Chris Collins for helping him develop, who now has six defensive backs drafted under his watch.

“Coach Collins knows what he’s doing, man,” Phillips said during the pre-draft process. “Being around him for three years, he’s impressive. He knows what he’s talking about, and at the same time, he’s a great teacher within the game. Each year he’s prepared me more and more to get to this stage. It’s trickling down to the young guys. He’s bringing a good culture to Kentucky in that DB room.”

What experts are saying about Andru Phillips

NFL analyst Lance Zierlein broke down how he expects Phillips’ attributes to translate to the professional ranks.

“Phillips’ tape features a high number of both completions and drops that should have been completions, but that could change in a different scheme and with additional experience. He’s still green, with just two years of real game experience, and often played too loose in Kentucky’s zone cover schemes. Phillips lacks the anticipation to contest catches at a high enough rate from zone but does have the athleticism to play more man coverage, with the tools to stay sticky on routes.

“He’s an ardent run supporter with excellent toughness but needs to finish tackles at a higher rate. Scheme fit might be critical, along with proving he can play from the slot, but his best football could be ahead of him.”

Zierlein lists his strengths as having quick feet, easy hips for lateral transitions, low backpedal for quicker reaction times, quickly pounces on near ball opportunities during zone or off-man covrage, among others.

For Phillips’ weaknesses, Zierlein believes there is room for improvement when making false steps, playing with instincts and anticipation for heavy ball production, issues sifting through combination routes and letting the opposition play over him are just a few attributes that the former Wildcat could improve on.