(03-06-2021, 01:50 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: That one is tough. I like Jenkins, but I like other OT's better. Collins is an elite player in my opinion. He excels at every aspect of the linebacking position. Here is my dilemma. I have Collins as the better overall player. I see him as a pure 4-3 WLB. I believe he has all the tools to be dominant in a 4-3 defense. I just don't know how he would fit in a 3-4 scheme. It would probably depend on how much we'd be in a 3-4 look and how much we'd be in a 4-3 defense to see where I could work him in. With that said, just going off who is the better overall player, I have to say Zaven Collins. I think he can be special. He is my favorite LB in the draft.

At 6-4 260, I think Collins fits perfectly in a 3-4, though athletically, he can perform the things 4-3 LBs are typically tasked to do.

At that size, he could play ILB and take on a G in the run game, while dropping effortlessly into pass coverage, either zone or man.  At OLB, he can hold the point against the run, has the length and speed to be a threat rushing the passer, and again drop into coverage.

My question is where would we play him?

You could argue he'd start over Schoebert at ILB due to athleticism.  Pairing him with Jack. it would be hard for QBs to complete passes underneath with those two in coverage.  Problem is, you don't know how Jack would perform inside having to take on guards, where I am confident Schobert can. 

You could also argue he'd start over Chaisson at ROLB-again due to his athletic versatility.  I don't see Chaisson being able to effectively drop into coverage.  To be honest, I don't see him as very good rushing the passer, either.  I think the 3-4 might make him a little better at it than he'd be with his hand in the dirt, but he's Barkevious Mingo with a little more burst.  I could see Collins starting over him and having far more impact.  But adding him to our LB corps would give us amazing athleticism at LB for our first time running that scheme.

As you know, I am big on friermuth and I believe we also need to upgrade both T positions, and there seems to be value at the T position towards the bottom of the first round.  But the more I see and think about Collins in our defense, the more I am beginning to feel he should be the pick at 25.

In fact, there are a couple of other OLB edge rusher candidates that I would consider more strongly in Penn State's Oweh and Georgia's Ojulari, were it not for the extreme redundancy at the position they represent.

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