After our media Zoom call with Detroit Lions linebacker Jamie Collins, two things were abundantly clear: He is incredibly confident and he enjoys playing all over the field.
When studying Collins game film from 2019, he rarely lineup up at the same linebacker spot on back-to-back snaps and he played at a high level regardless of whether he was dropping into coverage, stopping the run, blitzing, or pass rushing off the edge.
That positional versatility makes Collins a very rare player and his effectiveness playing at multiple spots gives the Lions plenty of options on how to set their defense.
Because Collins is a non-traditional player, trying to project him into a traditional linebacker role in the Lions scheme tends to be a fruitless effort as he will likely see snaps at every linebacker spot.
With that in mind, Collins was asked if fans wanted to go back and watch a game of his to get a better understanding of who he is as a player, Collins confidence shined through.
“Any game for me,” Collins said. “I feel like I’m doing what I gotta do every year, every game, every season. You can go check my stats, my stats are through the roof.”
He would go on to expand on his positional versatility, noting that he is willing to play anywhere and do anything coaches asked of him.
“Inside, outside, it’s my job,” Collins continued. “I’m here to do what’s best for the team. I just want my teammates to know that I got their back whenever they need me, I’m there and hopefully, I can say the same about everybody else… If they put me inside, I’ll play inside. If they put me outside, I’ll play outside… I like to switch it up every now and then and hunt for the ball. I like to rush the passer, but a lot of times I like to catch interceptions too.”
He even suggested that if it was in the team’s best interest and coaches wanted him to play safety, he would “drop some weight and play safety.”
Collins’ confidence and versatility could completely change the Lions approach to the linebacker position and we could see a ripple effect run through the entire position group.