Phillip Dillard Scouting Report

Phillip Dillard played in 11 games as a freshman and when he has been healthy, he has been a big part of the Nebraska defense. The 6-1, 240 pound inside linebacker earned one start during his freshman campaign and saved his best performances for the season ender against Colorado and the Alamo Bowl win over Michigan. Dillard was ready to break out as a sophomore and was seemingly on his way, but went down for the year with an ACL injury in the first game of the season and spent the rest of 2006 on the sidelines. As a redshirt sophomore in 2007, Dillard was a part-time starter and totaled 37 tackles. By the time he was an upperclassman, Dillard was emerging as a leader of the team, but yet again injuries got in the way. He was doing very well at the Cornhuskers Mike linebacker spot and tallied 38 tackles in the first four games of the season. Then he got hurt again, but played through the pain. However, a few games later he was hurt again and missed the last four games of the regular season. He did return for the Gator Bowl, but was limited due to his injury. The story was pretty much the same in 2009. Due to injuries Dillard only saw action in 12 of the team's 14 games and started just nine contests. Still, he ranked second on the team with 83 tackles and tallied 11.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks. Obviously it is the injuries that are keeping Dillard down. He did have a decent NFL Combine and improved his stock a little bit more with a solid pro day. Yet, the injury question keeps coming back. He has the experience and talent of a Donald Butler or Jamar Chaney, who are considered probable third round selections, but he will likely fall to at least the fourth round.