NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with linebacker Jamie Collins, reuniting him with coach Matt Patricia from their days in New England (2013-2016).
Collins is a Jack-of-all-trades type of linebacker, and he will likely find snaps at all four of the Lions linebacker spots.
A natural and elite pass-rushing linebacker, Collins spends about half of his time rushing the passer, but his ability to drop into coverage makes him a perfect player to disguise defensive intentions. This makes him best suited for the Lions JACK linebacker role — but in no way means the Lions are moving on from Devon Kennard though, as they also began dropping him into more off-the-ball roles later on in the season.
Collins will also spend time off-the-ball in the middle of the Lions scheme, so he will also split snaps with a crowded trio of Jarrad Davis, Jahlani Tavai, and Christian Jones. Collins struggled in stopping the run last season, and if that carries over, it will limit his role here.
His best role may be at SAM linebacker, which is a role that isn’t often used in Detroit — except when they face run-heavy offenses — but it could indicate a shift in defensive philosophy under new defensive coordinator Cory Undlin.
Regardless of where he plays, the Lions believe highly in him after giving him a reported $30 million over 3 years. He is going to play a heavy amount of snaps and the fact that they went after him hard in free agency, we could be witnessing a shift in the Lions approach to using linebackers.