Jamie Collins Sr., LB, New England Patriots
The linebacker had a career resurgence last season in New England, as part of the Patriots’ impressive defensive unit. Collins notched 50 solo tackles, forced three fumbles (tied for first among linebackers), had three interceptions (tied for third among linebackers) and also tallied eight sacks. All very impressive numbers in his return to Foxboro.
Furthermore, those numbers were in line with what Collins did during his first stint in the AFC East. Drafted in the second round out of Southern Mississippi, Bill Belichick relied on Collins as an athletic playmaker off-ball linebacker. But the team traded him to the Cleveland Browns midway through the 2016 season. While in the AFC North, however, Collins struggled. He missed a significant amount of time in 2017 due to injury, and while he led the Browns in tackles in 2018 he could not replicate what he was doing under Belichick, and Cleveland eventually released him.
That enabled Belichick to swoop in and do what he often does, slide a veteran into a role they are best suited for and let them thrive.
So a team that sign Collins is going to first want to evaluate how he was used in New England and make sure that type of off-ball, athletic linebacker is a needed piece in their defense. Teams that already have such a player (looks at the Jacksonville Jaguars) might want to consider a different linebacker in free agency, or teams that are looking to draft such a player (looks at the Las Vegas Raiders) might want to rethink things as well.
Finally, there is another aspect of Collins’ 2019 season to consider. Much like the Patriots themselves, Collins seemed to fade down the stretch. The bulk of his defensive production (six of his sacks, all three interceptions and two of his forced fumbles for example) came in the first half of the season. Was this due to New England’s woes as a team, or is there an underlying issue? Something else to ponder.