Jaelan Phillips would need to do this to win Rookie DPOY

Jaelan Phillips has been touted as a near steal for the Miami Dolphins in the 2021 draft but could he potentially put up the numbers to win Rookie of the Year?

Like we did last night with Jaylen Waddle, we took a look at the last five to ten rookies who landed the award on the defensive side of the ball and to see what the stats revealed of the past winner’s rookie seasons.

Dating back to 2010, three linebackers have won the award. They include Von Miller, Luke Kuechly, and Darius Leonard in 2018. Two players that have won are cornerbacks, and two are defensive tackles, Ndamukong Suh in 2010 and Aaron Donald in 2014. The rest? Four defensive ends.

Phillips is listed on the Dolphins roster as a linebacker but that is likely to change but in reality, it is only a designation. Phillips is going to see plenty of upfield work and since the linebackers listed are mostly interior, we will look at what the DEs have done to win the award.

Sheldon Richards won the award in 2013. In his rookie year, he posted 12 tackles for losses including 3.5 sacks, 78 total combined tackles, and 8 quarterback hits. He forced one fumble as well.

Joey Bosa won the award in 2016 after posting 41 combined tackles, 10.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, and 21 QB hits.

Nick Bosa followed in his brother’s footsteps and won the award in 2019. His stats were similar to his brothers. 47 combined tackles, 9 sacks, 25 QB hits, and 2 fumble recoveries, one interception, and a forced fumble.

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Chase Young was the latest to win the award and that came last year with Washington. He posted four passes defended, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown, 44 combined tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and 12 QB hits.

Clearly, the voters do not put a lot of stock into tackles off the edge and that’s a good thing. Phillips will need to get sacks, fumble recoveries or forced fumbles, and hits on the QB. The hits on the QB can be disruptive and it shows that voters take that into account.

Phillips will have competition but he is in a unique position to see a lot of reps early and make a big impact.