PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Atlanta Falcons will have an open competition at nickel cornerback this offseason, head coach Raheem Morris said Tuesday at the annual league meetings, highlighted by a familiar face in a new place.
Clark Phillips III, a 2023 fourth-round draft pick who's played in 27 games with seven starts over the past two seasons, spent much of 2024 on the perimeter -- but Morris said Phillips will "do some things ... inside" in 2025.
"We're going to give it a rip," Morris said about playing Phillips at nickel. "I talked to Clark about it. That's the cool part about talking to your players and being able to come up with real challenges and real things you want them to try to do this year.
"That's something you'll certainly see when we start our OTAs. Something he's working on right now, talking about, thinking about. So, at the end of the day, we'll let those guys go play for it, fight for it."
Phillips has largely been the Falcons' top backup at outside corner the last two years. He started the final five games of 2023 in place of Jeff Okudah, and in 2024, Phillips played 407 defensive snaps while at times alternating with starter Mike Hughes. At final tally, Phillips was on the field 39% of Atlanta's snaps on defense last season.
The Falcons have a vacancy at nickel corner. Dee Alford, the team's primary slot defender in 2024, was a restricted free agent, but Atlanta did not tender his contract. Alford, now an unrestricted free agent, is still on the open market.
Led by new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, the Falcons are in the midst of a personnel overhaul this offseason. They've lost or chose not to retain starters at every level of their defense, and due to limited financial resources -- they spent much of the spring ranked 28th in cap space -- they've turned toward patchwork options.
At nickel corner, which has turned into an oft-utilized position, Morris likes Atlanta's internal options.
The Falcons re-signed Hughes, who started on the perimeter in all 16 games played last season, with plans for him to continue as the cornerback opposite A.J. Terrell. But Morris noted Hughes can do more than just play outside.
"Mike is such a valuable piece, because he can go inside and he can go outside, and he was a key part of us in free agency and what we wanted to do," Morris said. "That was one of the guys that you know you want to get back on your football team, because he provides that type of flexibility."
Morris then praised the versatility of Phillips, and said the Falcons "think the world of" Terrell, a former second-team All-Pro.
"We got some pieces there," Morris said. "Really excited about those guys. When you talk about the roles they can play for us. Talk about the guys that can go out there and give us significant reps. Those are the guys we have on our current roster that have done that thing before."
But the Falcons' cornerback room, which currently holds seven players under contract, isn't a finished product.
"We're obviously looking forward to adding people, doing different things, and really finding a way," Morris said, later returning to the skill sets of Hughes and Phillips. "Flexibility of having a Mike, having a Clark -- trying to create flexibility of having Clark -- is something that really excites you."
Despite not playing inside as a professional, Phillips has extensive experience in the slot. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder initially committed to Ohio State University with plans of competing inside, but after a defensive coordinator change, he later went to the University of Utah.
Phillips received the chance to compete for a starting job at outside corner for the Utes, and he proved to be the best option, starting all five games as a true freshman. Two years later, he won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year while shadowing receivers inside when necessary.
The Falcons -- under both previous head coach Arthur Smith in 2023 and Morris in 2024 -- have leaned toward keeping Phillips outside. Across two seasons, he's registered 62 tackles, 10 passes defended and an interception, which he returned 45 yards this past season.
Now playing for his third defensive coordinator in as many professional seasons, Phillips appears poised to get an extended look inside. How much competition -- and who provides it -- likely won't be determined until after the 2025 NFL draft, which starts April 24.
But as the Falcons near the start of their offseason program April 22, Phillips will control what he can control: learning nickel corner in Ulbrich's system.
