Mike's Second Take on the LB position ...
Who's stock has risen and why?
Zaven Collins, Tulsa (6-4, 260 lbs.) - Collins doesn't have far to rise, given that he's consistently been regarded as a prospect with first-round potential. But Collins sold his versatility in an interview with the NFL Network during Tulsa's Pro Day, and in doing so he made a compelling argument.
"It went well," Collins maintained after producing a 4.67 40, a 35" vertical and a 10'2" broad jump. "I think it was a really fluid day. Moving side to side, getting out, opening up, those are the things I'm best at.
"With my size, strength and speed I can do a lot of things, rush on third down, drop back in coverage, spy the 'Q,' be inside on first and second down, do basically about anything. I attribute a lot of that to the defense we ran in college. It's something that's helped me out quite a bit."
The ability to rush off the edge on third down after playing a more traditional off-ball linebacker spot on first and second down intrigues, as does Collins' willingness to spy quarterbacks when necessary.
He may not have gone to Alabama or Ohio State, but he still won the 2020 Bednarik Award (Maxwell Club) and the 2020 Nagurski Award (Football Writers Association of America), which are given annually to the nation's best defensive player. Collins was the only player in FBS with four-plus sacks and four-plus interceptions in 2020 (he had four of each in eight games).
Various NFL Network analysts have projected Collins to go 19th, 24th, 28th, 29th and 32nd overall.
He looks like a certain first-round selection; the questions are when and where?
Other Notes: Stanford's Curtis Robinson (6-3, 236 lbs.) is another player who projects as capable of playing on the edge or off the ball, in Robinson's case in either spot in a sub-package role. He can also cover kicks … Purdue's Derrick Barnes (6-0, 230 lbs.) is still another player who projects outside/edge-inside versatility. Barnes was an edge rusher for the Boilermakers in 2019 (7.5 sacks in 12 games) and an inside linebacker in 2020 (54 tackles and an interception in six games). He's shown stopping power and physicality inside and an ability to translate speed to power when coming off the edge.
Mike's First Take on the LB position ...
#5 - Jabril Cox, LSU (6-3, 229 lbs.) - The arrow is pointing up, from North Dakota State and then to LSU as a transfer for 2020 and now to the next level. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah liked what he saw from Cox at the Senior Bowl: "A big, long, athletic linebacker who's been really good in coverage with tight ends and backs this week." Cox can also contribute defending against the pass from the throwing end (he had six-and-a-half sacks in his lone season at LSU). Cox is a former quarterback and wide receiver in high school who has the athleticism to fill a variety of roles. His trajectory is headed in the right direction.
#4 - Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame (6-1 1/2, 220 lbs.) - He's taking the lighter, stick-and-move aspect of the new-wave inside linebacker to the extreme, but he's also an intriguing chess piece. Owusu-Koramoah's versatility projects as a player capable of coming off the edge, playing strong safety or "big nickel" and lining up off the ball. Draft the athlete and then determine the best fit or fits as you go. He won't need the luck of the Irish to contribute at the next level.
#3 - Jamin Davis, Kentucky (6-4, 234 lbs.) - Davis had five interceptions in three seasons at Kentucky, including three in 2020, including an 85-yard pick-six against Tennessee. Jeremiah sees a lot of Darius Leonard in Davis (Leonard went in the second round in 2018 and promptly became a first-team All-Pro; apparently there were more new-age inside linebackers available than initially perceived back then, as well). Davis closes with authority and has shown he can take the ball away in the running game as well as the passing game.
#3 - Zaven Collins, Tulsa (6-4, 260 lbs.) - Among Collins' remarkable attributes is he looks svelte at 260 pounds. He can stick and move well enough to play the "spy" and to make a leaping interception and then sprint 96 yards the other way for a walk-off pick-six in double-overtime. Collins did that in 2020 against Tulane and in the process authored perhaps the pre-draft Highlight of the Year. He didn't look tired upon reaching the end zone. Collins can diagnose and then explode, and his closing speed is reminiscent of a video game. It was said on air of Collins during a Tulsa-UCF broadcast, "It looks like there are three of him."
#1 - Micah Parsons, Penn State (6-3, 244 lbs.) - Parsons didn't play in 2020, but he was the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year in 2019 as a sophomore, as well as a first-team AP All-America selection. His tape from that season includes forcing Buckeyes running back J.K. Dobbins to fumble and chasing Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields from the pocket to the sideline. Parsons is a whatever-is-necessary defender, whether what's required at a given time is stuffing a short-yardage run, rushing the passer off the edge, tackles in the open field, what have you. His game can be summed up by a line from play-by-play man Chris Fowler during the 2019 Penn State-Michigan game: "Is he playing fast, or what?" Fast and ferocious.
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