Matt Waldman’s RSP Boiler Room examines the release repertoire of UCLA slot receiver Kyle Philips who can be guilty of having too much of a good thing when it comes to his arsenal of footwork.
Can a prospect have too much of a good thing? If he doesn’t know how to apply his skills with good judgment, absolutely. Kyle Philips is guilty of this with his footwork.
A four-star prospect out of high school, Philips has always been known as a quick-footed route runner and he has leaned on these skills for a productive career in Westwood, California. Philips’ scouting report has a lot of boxes checked for the varieties of footwork that receivers can use to win at the line of scrimmage against man-to-man coverage.
Philips certainly has the fundamentals to develop into a productive slot receiver in the NFL. What’s missing is a discriminating use of his footwork with shorter routes. Philips, like a lot of young receivers, wants to pack in a lot of technique per route and this can result in him not reaching the spot where the ball will be placed.
This has become a common complaint of receiver coaches in recent years, especially after these young receivers increasingly attend receiver-centric footwork programs where there acquire more technique but still have to develop the maturity and experience necessary to apply this knowledge appropriately.
In this Boiler Room, you’ll see three routes from Philips’ performance against Stanford. One of them is an illustration of Philips packing too much into a route based on the length of the pattern. The other two are examples of him having enough time and space to offer a greater density of technique per route.
If Philips can develop the wisdom to apply his technique appropriately, he has a lot of working in his favor to have along career as an NFL slot receiver.
For the most in-depth analysis of offensive skill players available (QB, RB, WR, and TE), download the 2022 Rookie Scouting Portfolio for $21.95.
Matt’s new RSP Dynasty Rankings and Two-Year Projections Package is available for $24.95
If you’re a fantasy owner and interested in purchasing past publications for $9.95 each, the 2012-2020 RSPs also have a Post-Draft Add-on that’s included at no additional charge.