Quote: 

Not always a fan of Walter Football but here are his comments on two Illinois DEs

 

Dawuane Smoot, DE, Illinois 

Height: 6-2. Weight: 255. Arm: 32.75. Hand: 9.13. 

40 Time: 4.77. 

Projected Round (2017): 2-3. 
<i>4/26/17: </i>Sources say that Smoot is very athletic and explosive off the edge; however, they feel he is more disruptive than productive. Smoot is the kind of player who will have a lot of pressures on the quarterback, but only a few sacks. Sources say he could be an edge defender similar to Nick Perry. In speaking to sources at multiple teams during the season, they viewed Smoot as a mid- to late first-rounder. The grades were lowered to the middle of the second day later in the year. 


Smoot notched 56 tackles and 15 for a loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass batted in 2016. He had a quality week at the Senior Bowl and followed it up with a nice performance at the combine. 


Smoot had a strong junior season in 2015 as he totaled eight sacks with 15 tackles for a loss, 40 tackles, two passes batted and three forced fumbles. He started across from Jihad Ward, and sources said that Smoot impressed them while grading Ward for the 2016 NFL Draft. As a sophomore in 2014, Smoot had 33 tackles with 7.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.

 

 

Carroll Phillips, DE/OLB, Illinois 

Height: 6-3. Weight: 242. Arm: 31.75. Hand: 9.5. 

40 Time: 4.64. 

Projected Round (2017): 2-4. 
<i>4/26/17: </i>Phillips has first-round talent, but he probably will fall to the second day of the 2017 NFL Draft. He faced some off-the-field concerns, but those were cleared up in his favor and Phillips was cleared of any wrong doing. WalterFootball.com knows some teams that really like Phillips and have him in play on the second day of the 2017 NFL Draft. In 2016, Phillips recorded 56 tackles with 20 tackles for a loss, nine sacks and one forced fumble. 


Phillips is a sleeper prospect who some NFL teams love and others are lukewarm on. The teams that love Phillips say he is super athletic and twitchy. They feel that his speed and athleticism is very similar to Leonard Floyd. Like Floyd at Georgia, Phillips can struggle some on run downs; however, they feel that he is a gifted, natural pass-rushing talent. The teams that aren't in love with Phillips don't see him as a high pick, as one could expect. 


As a junior, Phillips made 26 tackles with 4.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks as the backup to Jihad Ward.

1.