Texas DT Alfred Collins hasn’t broke out, but could in 2024

Alfred Collins’ breakout could be imminent. We share why it hasn’t happened yet.

There are roughly 95 days until the Texas Longhorns kicks off against Colorado State to begin the college football season. 95 is, of course, the number Alfred Collins wears. Collins, the former five-star prospect, hasn’t yet realized his five-star potential, but is primed to break out in 2024.

Some might already label the player a bust or write off his ability to contribute. After all, if he’s really as good as he was projected to be we should have seen it by now, they might suggest. That’s a logical outsider perspective, but not the full story.

Alfred Collins isn’t a bust. In fact, you could argue we actually have seen Collins play like a five-star. We’ve seen him throw NFL tackle Anton Harrison to the ground before sacking Spencer Rattler. We’ve seen him snag a one-handed interception in a bowl game. We just haven’t seen enough of it, because he hasn’t had enough chances to play.

Collins simply hasn’t gotten opportunities yet due to injury and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s situational designations for the defensive lineman.

Kwiatkowski famously placed Collins in a situational role that didn’t see the field much in 2021. Why? Perhaps because Collins wasn’t big enough to play three-technique but not lean enough to play edge in Kwiatkowski’s scheme. One of many failures to the 2021 defensive philosophy was trying to fit players to a scheme rather than fitting the scheme to players. That appeared to have changed after the 5-7 showing.

Collins’ progress was further stunted by injuries that limited his ability to pack on muscle and gain weight to move into the defensive tackle position in past offseason. Then, of course, defensive tackles Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat became All-Americans and prevented Collins from moving up the depth chart.

Fast forward to the 2024 offseason. Collins is mammoth-sized having finally grown into a defensive tackle. Kwiakowski should play him as often as possible this season. The senior now checks in at 321 pounds.

So why hasn’t the once undersized converted defensive end with ill-timed injuries broke out at defensive tackle yet? The question answers itself.

Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat and Keondre Coburn went from underachieving multi-year starters to breakout players in their last season in Austin. Collins will look to continue the trend in 2024.