2020 Preview: Projecting Jamie Collins' Stats
The worst kept secret in all of football might be that Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn love themselves some former Patriots players.
This offseason, they knew they needed to upgrade the linebackers room in the Motor City, and so, they added ex-New England and Cleveland linebacker Jamie Collins.
With the departure of Devon Kennard -- who the Lions released in March -- the 30-year-old Collins enters Detroit as the veteran face of the organization's linebackers unit.
The question for fans and pundits alike regarding Collins is what version of the eighth-year pro will Patricia & Co. be getting: the productive New England version or the underachieving Cleveland version.
A season ago while with the Patriots, Collins finished with a career-high seven sacks, to go along with 81 total tackles, a career-high three interceptions, a career-best seven passes defensed and three forced fumbles.
It was his second of two stints in New England, and he was also productive during his first go-around with Bill Belichick & Co. (2013-16). He made his lone Pro Bowl trip in 2015, and recorded a career-best 115 total tackles in 2014.
However, as is the case with many players that don a Patriots uni, Belichick found Collins expandable, and dealt him to the Browns midway through the 2016 campaign.
It led to a two-and-a-half year stint for him in Cleveland, where he was not nearly as good.
He did manage to record a 104-tackle, four-sack season in 2018. But, that was about it for the Southern Miss product while donning a Browns uni.
Fast-forward to now, and the verdict is still out on whether he can be a consistently productive player outside of New England.
ESPN NFL prognosticator Mike Clay projects Collins to finish with 84 combined tackles, about four sacks (3.8) and approximately one interception (1.1) in 2020.
With Collins' familiarity with Patricia's ways and his bend-but-don't-break defense, the veteran linebacker undoubtedly has a great shot of being productive during his first year in Detroit.
My personal projection is that he finishes with a stat line of 83 overall tackles, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions.
It would be a solid start to his career in Honolulu Blue.
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