PFF names Giants’ Dru Phillips the best pick of the third round

PFF is a fan of Phillips

Pro Football Focus has named new New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips the best pick of the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Giants selected Phillips out of Kentucky with the sixth pick in the third round, 70th overall. PFF says:

The Giants drafted Deonte Banks in the first round of last year’s draft and now add more youth to that group early in the third round this year. His career-best 23 defensive stops led all SEC cornerbacks in 2023, and his 72.9 PFF coverage grade was also the best mark of his career.

PFF describes a “stop” as preventing the offense from getting 40 percent of the yardage needed to convert on first down, 50 percent of the yards to convert on second down, and preventing a first down on third or fourth down.

Phillips was almost exclusively played out of a zone coverages at Kentucky, and his stop rate suggests very good awareness and a quick downhill trigger — to go with physicality and an aggressive nature.

The Giants have suggested that Phillips will start his career as a slot corner, which makes sense given his physicality and willingness to get his hands dirty in run support. That could also make it interesting to follow how their secondary shakes out over the course of the summer.

The Giants have drafted a cornerback highly in each of the last five drafts, selecting Darnay Holmes in 2020, Aaron Robinson in 2021, Cor’Dale Flott in 2022, and Deonte Banks in 2023. Of those players, Banks is the only one who’s a natural outside corner, while Holmes, Robinson, and Flott have all played better in the slot. It’s possible that we could see players like Holmes and Flott compete with Tre Hawkins III to start across from Banks, while Phillips is the Day 1 starter in the slot.

It’s also somewhat interesting that PFF picked Phillips as the best pick of the third round. By their own board, players like linebacker Payton Wilson (30th ranked, drafted 98th), wide receiver Roman Wilson (42nd ranked, drafted 84th), running back Blake Corum (53rd ranked, drafted 83rd), and edge Jonah Elliss (55th ranked, drafted 76th) are all better values than Phillips (64th ranked, drafted 70th).

However, it’s likely that they’re taking the Giants’ perceived need in the secondary into account, as well as Phillips’ potential impact if he’s an immediate starter.