NFL

2015 NFL Draft: Evaluating Landon Collins’ Stock Before the Sugar Bowl

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Landon Collins Alabama Safety

Kevin Liles – USA TODAY Sports

The Alabama Crimson Tide are set to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in a New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl showdown in New Orleans. One of the biggest reasons for the Tide’s success is strong safety Landon Collins.

If you just so happen to be a fan of SEC football and tuned in to a few Alabama games this season, you may have noticed a heat-seeking missile flying out of the Crimson Tide secondary in Collins looking to destroy anything and everything in his path. He did this quite often this season, and for NFL scouts, it did not go unnoticed.

Collins will be the first defensive back taken in the 2015 NFL Draft and it won’t even be close. Collins is blessed with a rare blend of size, speed and power from the safety position unrivaled by any player in college football this year, and because of it, the Alabama defense is once again ranked among the top teams in the country. However, while his physical traits are elite, another attribute he possesses which cannot be measured is what makes him a coveted a prospect.

Collins plays with a level of passion and heart that will keep him in the NFL for a long time. The plays he makes in the open field leave offensive coordinators frustrated and ball-carriers fearful of what this physical specimen can bring to the table. He currently leads an aggressive Alabama defense with 91 tackles, 3.5 of them coming behind the line. As for his play-making ability, he has three interceptions to go along with nine passes defended.

He just may be this year’s version of former Indianapolis Colts great Bob Sanders in that his impact is felt immediately and his presence is apparent the moment he steps on the field. However, unlike Sanders, Collins stands 6-foot-2 but still packs enough punch to keep receivers hearing footsteps the entire game.

Now to keep things in proper perspective, Collins does have some weaknesses. While his run support is second to none, he does not have ideal coverage ability which may turn certain teams off depending on their coverage schemes. Another knock against him —  which is not necessarily his fault — is that Alabama defensive backs have not fared well in the NFL overall, and the latest top-10 pick in the New York Jets‘ Dee Milliner does nothing to help this case. He spent most of his rookie season riding the pine until a breakout December. The same goes for Mark Barron who was drafted with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers No. 7 overall pick and was subsequently traded to the St. Louis Rams this year.

Either way, teams will not be able to ignore Collins’ athleticism and upside. He’s going to absolutely destroy the combine, and I expect him to run a sub 4.4 forty or be pretty close to it.

So for those teams interested in Collins, I’d say you may want to buy high, because his stock will continue to be on the rise and his performance in the College Football Playoff will only solidify his spot as the top defensive back on the board.

Brandon Williams is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter, @BfreshAlum4UA, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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