The 10 best Miami Dolphins players at least 25 and younger

Jaelan Phillips, 23, was considered one of the best pass-rusher coming out of the 2021 NFL Draft. He proved that with his 8.5 sacks in his first year.

Miami fans have seen a lot of Phillips as he was drafted out of the University of Miami. He dropped on some team’s draft boards due to his injury history which caused him to retire from football in 2018.

He came back in 2020 for The U where he earned second-team All-American honors. He has not shown thus far any medical issues since he returned to play football. Come draft night he did not need to move that far as the Miami Dolphins drafted him 18th overall.

Phillips set a Dolphins rookie record with the eight and a half sacks he registered in his rookie campaign. Like the rest of the Fins defense, it took some time for Phillips to shine.

In the first eight games of the season, he had one and a half sacks. In the eight games that followed Phillips was on an All-Pro pace, getting to the quarterback seven times.

The next step for Phillips to become an every-down player, which he was asked about earlier in the offseason, “for me it is just a mindset thing, it’s a chip on my shoulder people say I can’t play early downs, just watch me.”