Harrison Phillips: Buffalo Bills overlooked rookie

Each team has a rookie drafted into the organization every year. When looking at the Buffalo Bills‘ draft history, players drafted in the later round tend to last longer than the ones drafted in the first round. E.J. Manuel, J.P Losman, Leodis McKelvin, Aaron Maybin, Sammy Watkins. All of these players have been drafted by the Bills in the first round, only to disappoint and eventually be dismissed/ traded by the team.

Kyle Williams, John Miller, Nick O’Leary, Matt Milano. These players are still on the team and have made an impact during a season one way or another. The highest draft pick out of these four was Miller who was drafted in 2015 in the third round. With this league, there are ranked prospects going into the draft process, but none if it really matters until the pads are on.

With the Bills taking Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds in the first round in 2018, they get themselves two players who can be dynamic future players for the Bills. Allen and Edmunds have first round talent. Who else has that same type of a talent? A player by the name of Harrison Phillips who was drafted in the third round this past year.

A defensive tackle from Stanford, I believe Phillips is the successor to Kyle Williams. At 6’4″ and almost 300 pounds, Phillips is a physical and sometimes violent tackle. He has a lot of power, can create messes in the trenches and has speed for a bigger player. With Williams heading into what should be his final season as a Bill, Phillips has himself a great mentor and a great defensive minded head coach.

In the beginning, expect Phillips to a rotational player. I think by the middle of the season, he will be seeing more time on the field if he lives up to the expectations of Sean McDermott.

Brandon Ray is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage who covers the Buffalo Bills. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_ray79 and @FPC_Bills for Bills coverage.