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Are we really doing this again?
It’s the Arizona Cardinals, so of course we are.
Another year, another former first-round linebacker for the club that is apparently testing the waters on numerous positions to begin summer workouts. Zaven Collins, the 16th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, was originally selected by general manager Steve Keim as the heir-apparent at MIKE linebacker to Jordan Hicks. Entering year two, even without the threat of Hicks on the roster, Collins still isn’t cemented as the man in the middle to call the defense.
“We’re doing all kinds of stuff,” Collins said when speaking with the media last Thursday. “I could be the man in the middle. I could be somewhere in the middle but maybe not calling it.”
“We don’t know what that is yet.”
Yikes.
If this all sounds familiar, that’s because this is the third consecutive first-round linebacker that the Cardinals have struggled to find a permanent role for. First it was a 2017 first-round pick in Temple’s Haason Reddick, who was shoehorned in at inside linebacker despite never playing the position at the collegiate level. Next was 2020 top-10 pick Isaiah Simmons, who entered the NFL essentially positionless. Like Collins, Simmons was cast aside during his rookie campaign by Cardinal defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. While Simmons has shown flashes during his first two seasons in the NFL, he is far from the every-down linebacker that was initially promised.
There was initial optimism that came with Collins thanks to his time at Tulsa playing nearly every snap at the linebacker position. Unlike Simmons, who was a true Swiss Army knife while at Clemson, Collins’ transition to the NFL was suppose to be much more seamless thanks to his experience combined with a much larger frame.
To his credit, Collins’ physicality was routinely on display early last season despite losing out on the starting gig to Hicks. Quality outings against Tennessee, Jacksonville and San Francisco gave us glimpses of what Collins could do if given the opportunity. Yet it was a combination of a nagging shoulder injury and poor practice play that inevitably sent Collins to the bench almost permanently. Regulated to special team duties, Collins averaged a mere 17 snaps per game defensively in 13 outings played last season.
“A lot of it was my fault,” said Collins. “Some bad practices…dealing with shoulder stuff. At some point after I injured it the second time, I was trying to be tough man with it.”
Anyone who watched Collins dominate his college opponents for the better part of three seasons at Tulsa knows ability isn’t an issue. Coming out, Collins was the highest-graded coverage linebacker in Pro Football Focus history, with a firm top-20 draft grade by most teams. Had the Arizona Cardinals not selected him at pick No. 16, the Raiders and former coach Jon Gruden were lying in the weeds at the tail end of the teens to make Collins a member of the silver and black.
Yet with his recent quotes clearly emphasizing a lack of comfort in his ability to call the Cardinal defense full time, coach Kliff Kingsbury needs to intervene for the sake of both his team and his young defender.
The Cardinals need to move Zaven Collins permanently to outside linebacker.
Rather than make the same mistake again and shoehorn a player into a role that doesn’t fit, kicking Collins outside allows the 23-year-old the flexibility to play free and easy while highlighting his many skills. Unburdening Collins from having to worry about the entirety of the defense could reignite the intensity that was so often on display within the American Athletic Conference.
There is no coincidence that Collins’ best outing last season came in a Week 17 fill-in for starting outside linebacker Markus Golden. At Dallas and in desperate need of a win, Collins helped secure a pivotal road victory thanks to a near-dominant team defensive effort.
The much-maligned rookie gave Dallas right tackle La’el Collins all he could handle en route to sparkling PFF grade of 74 (19 snaps), which included a pass breakup as well as several run stops at the line of scrimmage. It was evident for all who watched Collins on that faithful afternoon that the tools that made him a first-round pick were, in fact, translating at the NFL level. Joseph himself spoke glowingly of Collins following the Jan. 2 outing, while then hinting that his stay on the edge could be a permanent one. It was clear to Joseph that his young rookie was finally comfortable just playing football again.
Collins just needs the opportunity to regularly play with that same sense of comfort that doesn’t include the rigors and responsibilities that come with MIKE linebacker.
Which is why the Cardinals would be wise to pull the trigger on this personnel change immediately, rather than drag it late into camp. Anyone reading the tea leaves back in March knew the addition of veteran journeymen linebacker Nick Vigil meant that either Simmons or Collins was on borrowed time inside. Even with Jordan Hicks now out of the picture, Vigil represents that veteran crutch at the position that Joseph himself cannot resist.
After Collins’ most recent comments during last week’s OTAs, it’s clear that a transition may already be taking place.
Perhaps this was all telegraphed by the front office and coaching staff alike. The Cardinals have been noticeably quiet when attempting to add veteran help at pass rusher following the free-agent exit of All-Pro Chandler Jones. Maybe the slow transition of Collins to a position of need was always in the works and the team just needed to take the field in the spring to fully cement it.
Whatever the case may be, this is an Arizona Cardinals defense that desperately needs to find the best usage for Collins if they hope to have success in 2022. In the opinion of this reporter, that success will come when Collins recaptures his edge out on the edge.
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