Las Vegas Raiders: One draft prospect to target from each top-25 program
When you build an NFL pass rusher, you want them to look like Jaelan Phillips. The number one high school recruit in the country coming out of the 2017 class, Phillips’s career got off to a rocky start. Multiple injury-plagued years had him prepared to walk away from football, but he transferred to Miami (FL) in 2020 and displayed the talent everyone thought he had entering college.
A blend of power and fluid movement gives him all the necessary physical tools to be a top-tier pass rusher in the NFL. And for a team like the Raiders, that is what they and fans have been dying for since Khalil Mack was traded.
Now the big red flag with Phillips is his injury history. Multiple concussions and other aligning injuries would be hard to take for the Raiders at pick #17. Medicals will be huge for Phillips, but if things look good, the Raiders should take a serious look at him and even try to trade back to take him in the late 20s or 30s if possible.