Rising Cane DE Phillips enters draft … Miami junior DE Jaelan Phillips has announced that he will be foregoing his remaining college eligibility and entering the 2021 draft; he also indicated he won’t be playing in the ‘Canes bowl game. The 6-5, 265-pound Phillips, a transfer from UCLA, had a breakout campaign this past season in which he had 8 sacks and 7.5 other tackles for loss in 10 games and is starting to generate a little first round buzz for the upcoming draft. If he is ultimately selected in this year’s opening round, Phillips would likely be the second former ‘Canes’ DE selected as redshirt sophomore Greg Rousseau, a top ten candidate, opted out and announced his intention to enter the draft prior to the start of the season. In fact, the draft should be something of a Miami DE reunion as senior Quincy Roche, who transferred from Temple last winter, also announced that he will not play in the ‘Canes’ bowl and instead will start work on his draft prep. At the same time, three other juniors also announced overnight that they will be entering the draft including Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth, who is generally considered to be the #2 prospect at the position for the 2021 draft after Florida’s Kyle Pitts. A late season injury, though, could lower Freiermuth’s grade somewhat. Meanwhile, the other juniors to declare include Missouri G/T Larry Borom and Minnesota CB Ben St-Juste.
