NFL Analyst Believes Zaven Collins Has Big Year Coming
Unfortunately, the Arizona Cardinals have become synonymous with misusage.
That goes back to the days of Haason Reddick roaming the field at State Farm Stadium as an off-ball linebacker. Reddick eventually broke free from the Cardinals and proved he was a valuable pass-rusher off the edge, tallying 16 sacks last year during the Philadelphia Eagles' run to a Super Bowl appearance.
Many believe that's also the case with Isaiah Simmons, a versatile player who has been tried at a handful of positions in Arizona without any great success.
There's arguments being made the Cardinals could be doing the same with Zaven Collins, who spent the first two years in the league as a inside linebacker.
Under new head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, Collins is making the transition to outside linebacker.
Bleacher Report says he's got some of the most untapped potential in the league:
"It's important to note that the 6'4", 260-pound linebacker actually had a better relative athletic score as an edge rusher than an inside linebacker coming out of Tulsa. According to Sports Info Solutions, Collins had 118 pass-rushing snaps last season and generated pressure on 12.1 percent of them," said Alex Ballentine.
"For context, that pressure rate led all Cardinals with at least 100 pass-rushing snaps.
"The Cardinals group of pass-rushers is relatively light on experience right now. Myjai Sanders and Cam Thomas are in Year 2. Collins has a clear path to playing time on the outside and Gannon's experience of building a dominant pass rush in Philadelphia should help unlock Collins' potential."
After a tough rookie season, Collins bounced back fairly well in 2022 and was arguably one of the team's top players on the defensive side of the ball.
Will a move to the edge be fruitful?
"Zaven’s obviously got a diverse skillset and with that you can utilize him in a lot of different ways. Whether it’s playing linebacker, playing on the edge, blitzing off the middle, blitzing off the edge, dropping in the coverage— you can really do it all with him," said Rallis earlier in the offseason.
"It’s not just the skillset, it’s his intelligence. You have to be very intelligent to be used in a versatile role, so he gives us a lot of flexibility on defense. There really isn’t a black and white answer to that. It’s multiple, and it makes you less predictable as a defense. It allows him to utilize all the different traits that he has; intelligence, speed, motor, and tackling ability. It really brings all of that out within his game.”
Time will tell if Collins' move to the outside will pay dividends, but the Cardinals are certainly confident they'll get the most out of him on the edge.
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