Landon Collins
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | |||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
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Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Dutchtown (Geismar, Louisiana) | ||||||||
College: | Alabama (2012–2014) | ||||||||
Position: | Safety/linebacker | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 2015 / Round: 2 / Pick: 33 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Landon Alexander Collins (born January 10, 1994) is an American football safety and linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Alabama, where he was a part of the team that won the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. He was selected by the New York Giants in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft. Collins was named to the 2016 All-Pro Team and went to three Pro Bowls during his tenure with them. He has also played for the Washington Commanders.
Early years
Collins attended
Also a standout track & field athlete, Collins was one of the state's top
Regarded as a five-star recruit by both
College career
2012 season
When Collins arrived in Tuscaloosa for his freshman season, then-defensive coordinator
2013 season
After starting safety
2014 season
As a junior, Collins started all fourteen games and led the team with 98 tackles, tied for the team lead in interceptions with three alongside
After his junior season, Collins entered the 2015 NFL draft.[21][22] Collins was reluctant to forgo his senior season at Alabama, but he was swayed by the NFL Draft Advisory Board's decision to grade him as a potential first-round pick. Mel Kiper Jr., of ESPN, even had him listed as a top-10 pick in one of his original mock drafts.[16] Collins acknowledged that passing up on the opportunities to compete for another national championship and continue his education at Alabama was difficult, but vowed that he would complete the necessary courses in order to ensure that he would graduate.
College statistics
Season | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Yds | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
2012 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | 13 | 54 | 15 | 70 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 | 2 | 89 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
2014 | 14 | 60 | 43 | 103 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 41 | 122 | 67 | 190 | 8.5 | 15 | 0.0 | 5 | 103 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Professional career
Pre-draft
Prior to his junior season, Collins was projected as a high first-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft by various mock drafts.[23][24][25]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle |
Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
228 lb (103 kg) |
31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.53 s | 1.57 s | 2.64 s | 4.33 s | 7.38 s | 35 in (0.89 m) |
10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) |
16 reps | |
All values from |
New York Giants (first stint)
2015 season
Collins was selected in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.[28] The Giants originally owned the 40th pick, 8th overall in the second round, but made a trade with the Tennessee Titans in order to take Collins.[29] On June 19, 2015, Collins signed a four-year, US$6 million contract with the team.[30]
Collins entered training camp competing with Cooper Taylor and Nat Berhe to be the New York Giants' starting free safety, after they lost veterans Quintin Demps, Antrel Rolle, and Stevie Brown to free agency in the off season.[31][32][33] On August 14, 2015, in a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Collins suffered a sprained MCL.[34] He missed only one preseason game. The New York Giants named him the starting free safety to begin his rookie season. Collins was switched from his natural strong safety position since he was better suited to play free safety than Brandon Meriweather.[31]
He made his professional regular season debut in the Giants' season opener against the Dallas Cowboys and finished the 27–26 loss with four combined tackles. On October 19, 2015, Collins made his first career interception, picking off Sam Bradford and making five combined tackles in the Giant's 27–7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.[35] On December 20, 2015, Collins recorded a season-high ten combined tackles and a pass deflection in a 38–35 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He finished his rookie season with 112 combined tackles, nine pass deflections, and an interception in 16 starts.[36] The New York Giants finished 6–10 and head coach Tom Coughlin resigned at the end of the season.[37]
2016 season
Collins enjoyed a breakout year in 2016 helping the Giants to an 11–5 record and to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
With the selection of Darian Thompson in the 2016 NFL draft, Collins was able to switch back to his originally intended position of strong safety. He was named the de facto starting strong safety to begin the regular season.[31]
In the season opener against the Cowboys, Collins recorded six solo tackles and a pass deflection in his regular season debut at strong safety. The following week, he made sixed combined tackles and recorded his first career sack on Drew Brees in a 16–13 victory over the New Orleans Saints.[38] On October 16, 2016, Collins racked up a season-high nine solo tackles, an assisted tackle, and sacked Joe Flacco in a 27–23 win over the Baltimore Ravens.[39] The following week the New York Giants played the Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham Stadium in London, and he made eight solo tackles and a season-high two interceptions off of Case Keenum, returning one for a 44-yard touchdown. He was named Week 7's National Football Conference (NFC) Defensive Player of the Week.[40]
On November 6, 2016, Collins recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles, a pass deflection, a sack, and intercepted Carson Wentz during the Giant's 28–23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.[41] He was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive game and was the first safety to accomplish that feat since Troy Polamalu. The following week, he recorded five solo tackles and intercepted Andy Dalton in the fourth quarter of a 21–20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. During a Week 11 matchup with the Chicago Bears, Collins made six solo tackles, three pass deflections, and intercepted Jay Cutler with 1:11 left on the clock to seal the 22–16 victory. This was Collins fourth consecutive game with an interception.[42] Collins earned NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, registering 30 combined tackles, a sack, and three interceptions.[43]
On December 20, 2016, Collins was named to the
2017 season
In Week 11, Collins recorded 15 tackles and had an Interception in a 12–9 overtime win over the Chiefs, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week.
2018 season
During the offseason, Collins announced that he required surgery on his right forearm, and that he may have to miss part of the Giants training camp. Collins was part of trade rumors around the trade deadline; however, he was not moved. In the team's Week 13 win over the Chicago Bears, Collins suffered a partially torn rotator cuff and was placed on injured reserve four days later after it was announced he would have surgery to repair it. He finished the season with 96 total tackles, four pass breakups, and a forced fumble playing and starting in 12 games.[56][57]
Washington Redskins / Football Team
2019 season
An
2020 season
Prior to the beginning of the 2020 season, Collins switched to his college number #26 following the release of
2021 season
After losing several linebackers to injury, Washington chose to switch Collins to a hybrid safety-linebacker role in October 2021.[67][68] In Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, he forced a fumble on running back Alex Collins in Washington's 17–15 win.[69] In the Week 14 game against the Cowboys, Collins had his first interception of the season against Dak Prescott, and also recorded two sacks.[70] The following week against the Philadelphia Eagles, he recorded an interception off a ball that bounced off Dallas Goedert's foot, one pass deflection, and one fumble recovery.[71] In that game, he suffered a foot injury and was placed on injured reserve on December 24.[72] On March 16, 2022, the team designated Collins as a post-June 1 release.[73]
New York Giants (second stint)
On October 6, 2022, Collins rejoined the Giants, signing to their
NFL career statistics
Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | ||
2015 | NYG | 16 | 16 | 112 | 84 | 28 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
2016 | NYG | 16 | 16 | 125 | 100 | 25 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 72 | 17.2 | 44T | 1 | 13 |
2017 | NYG | 15 | 15 | 104 | 78 | 26 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 21 | 0 | 6 |
2018 | NYG | 12 | 12 | 96 | 67 | 29 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
2019 | WAS | 15 | 15 | 117 | 78 | 39 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
2020 | WAS | 7 | 7 | 41 | 24 | 17 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2021 | WAS | 13 | 13 | 81 | 51 | 30 | 3.0 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
2022 | NYG | 6 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 52.0 | 52T | 1 | 2 |
Career[79] | 100 | 95 | 691 | 489 | 202 | 11.0 | 7 | 5 | 62 | 12 | 149 | 12.4 | 52 | 2 | 41 |
Personal life
A native of
Collins is the son of Tom Collins and April Justin. His father is currently a station director at the Coastal Bridge Construction Company in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while his mother resides in Florida. Collins is Justin's first-born son.[81] He has two brothers, Gerald Willis and Justin Collins, and one sister, Gerrah Willis.[82] Gerald also played college football at the University of Florida[83] and for the University of Miami.[84] Willis also played for Baltimore Ravens.
Collins' relationship with his mother has become much better.[15] The two have never directly addressed Landon's decision to choose Alabama over LSU, which causes the issue to remain a source of tension in their relationship.[15]
Kneeling controversy
Following U.S. President Donald Trump's September 2017 comments where he said that any player that kneels during the National Anthem should be fired or suspended, Collins and Giants teammates Damon Harrison and Olivier Vernon all took a knee in their third game of the 2017 season against the Philadelphia Eagles.[85][86] When asked about his decision to kneel, Collins said he was "absolutely conflicted" as he loved the U.S., adding that he was crying as he knelt.[86] Collins also referenced his uncle who previously served in the Army as an additional source of conflicted feelings while taking a knee during the anthem.[87] When the Giants played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week, Collins instead chose to raise his fist during the anthem. This decision came after Giants owner John Mara requested that the players stood during the anthem, while noting that he understood if they did not.[88]
References
- ^ "Westgate tops Dutchtown". Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Dutchtown's Landon Collins named Louisiana's 2012 Mr. Football". The Baton Rouge Advocate. January 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014.
- ^ "Legendary coach Tierney leads upstart Ponchatoula into second round". Archived from the original on May 14, 2014.
- ^ a b "Bama lands five-star S Landon Collins". ESPN.com. January 6, 2012.
- ^ "Track & Field, Cross Country Results, Statistics". Athletic.net. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Episcopal 4-Way - Track & Field Meet".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Episcopal Josten's Invitational 2012 - Meet Information". Louisiana Milesplit. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "LHSAA Class 5A State Championships - Track & Field Meet".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "ESPN Football Recruiting - Player Rankings - ESPN".
- ^ "Yahoo Sports: Rivals.com Ranking - Rivals.com safeties 2012".
- ^ "2012 Top Football Recruits". 247Sports.
- YouTube
- ^ "The Mag: One mother of a recruiting battle". January 23, 2012.
- ^ BigAl13ProTide (January 12, 2012). "Landon Collins: COMPLETE Commitment and MOM Reaction" – via YouTube.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c "Three Years Later, Landon Collins And Mom Still Aren't Quite On The Same Page". May 2015.
- ^ a b "Landon Collins reflects on career at Alabama". BamaOnLine. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Bama's Sunseri out for season". October 21, 2013.
- ^ "Tennessee vs. Alabama - Game Recap - October 26, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Alabama 2013 Schedule - Crimson Tide Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Alabama safety Landon Collins makes unanimous All-American status". December 18, 2014.
- ^ "Cooper, Yeldon, Collins leaving Bama for draft". January 8, 2015.
- ^ "Landon Collins reportedly leaving Alabama, will enter NFL draft". January 8, 2015.
- ^ Brugler, Dane (May 11, 2014). "2015 NFL mock draft: Big Ten, ACC prospects lead the way". CBS Sports.
- ^ Sobleski, Brent (May 11, 2014). "2015 mock draft: Jameis Winston slips out of Top 5". USA Today.
- ^ Burke, Chris (May 13, 2015). "2015 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Cedric Ogbuehi goes No. 1 overall to Oakland Raiders". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014.
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- ^ "2019 Draft Scout: QB Rankings". draftscout.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Giants trade up to select Alabama safety Landon Collins". NFL.com. May 1, 2015.
- NFL.com.
- ^ "Sportrac.com: Landon Collins contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c Jordan Ranaan (September 22, 2016). "Why Landon Collins is able to thrive early in his second season". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
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- ^ "Landon Collins suffers MCL injury". Giants.com. August 15, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
- ^ "Instant Analysis: Eagles 27, Giants 7". Giants.com. October 19, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
- ^ "NFL Player Profile: Landon Collins". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
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- ^ "NFL Game Center: Week 6-2016: Baltimore Ravens @ New York Giants". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
- ^ "NFL Game Center: Week 7-2016: New York Giants @ Los Angeles Rams". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
- ^ "NFL Game Center: Week 9-2016: Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
- ^ "NFL Game Center: Week 11-2016: Chicago Bears @ New York Giants". NFL.com. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
- ^ Lam, Quang M. (December 1, 2016). "Marcus Mariota, Kirk Cousins among Players of Month". NFL.com.
- ^ "Odell Beckham Jr. among four Giants named to Pro Bowl". Giants.com. December 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ "Landon Collins' 2016 season unique in NFL history". January 8, 2017.
- ^ "Three rookies, Matt Ryan among players named to All-Pro team". NFL.com. January 6, 2017.
- ^ "Giants' Landon Collins named 101 Awards' NFC Defensive Player of the Year". January 14, 2017.
- ^ "'Top 100 Players of 2017': No. 28 Landon Collins". NFL.com.
- ^ Lam, Quang M. (November 22, 2017). "Antonio Brown, Mark Ingram among Players of Week". NFL.com.
- ^ "Giants' Landon Collins thinks Ben McAdoo should have gotten 1 more season". December 6, 2017.
- ^ "Giants' Landon Collins: Leaves with ankle injury". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Giants unsure about Collins' status for rest of season".
- ^ "NFL announces 2018 Pro Bowl rosters". NFL.com. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ Eisen, Michael (December 26, 2017). "Giants place Landon Collins on IR, sign LB Derrick Mathews". Giants.com.
- ^ "#92: Landon Collins (S, Giants) | Top 100 Players of 2018 | NFL". Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 12, 2018). "Landon Collins says he'll need surgery on forearm". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- ^ Eisen, Michael (December 6, 2018). "Giants officially place Landon Collins on IR". Giants.com.
- ^ Teope, Herbie (March 11, 2019). "Landon Collins signs 6-year, $84M deal with Redskins". NFL.com.
- ^ Homler, Ryan. "Redskins announce Landon Collins will not take over Sean Taylor's number after all". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
- ^ "Dak double: Cowboys' Prescott beats Redskins with legs, arm". www.espn.com. September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ "McLaurin helps Redskins earn 1st win against Dolphins, 17-16". www.espn.com. October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
- ^ Baca, Michael (October 16, 2019). "Sam Darnold, Kyler Murray among Players of the Week". www.nfl.com. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Dajani, Jordan. "Washington's Landon Collins to take Adrian Peterson's number after surprising cut". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ^ "Washington Football Team at Arizona Cardinals - September 20th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
- ^ Keim, John (October 25, 2020). "Source: Washington fears S Collins tore Achilles". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ Jennings, Scott (October 27, 2020). "Washington Roster Moves: Landon Collins to IR, getting Achilles surgery Monday; Jeremy Reaves signed". Hogs Haven. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ Cadeaux, Ethan (October 18, 2021). "Why Washington moved Collins closer to line of scrimmage". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ Hailey, Peter (October 21, 2021). "Landon Collins doesn't like new LB role but is willing to play it". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ Washington Football Team Public Relations (November 30, 2021). "Washington-Seahawks Tuesday Stats Pack". Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 13, 2021). "Washington-Cowboys Monday Stats Pack". WashingtonFootball.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
- ^ Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 22, 2021). "Washington-Eagles Wednesday Stats Pack". WashingtonFootball.com. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 24, 2021). "Washington places Landon Collins on IR amid multiple moves". WashingtonFootball.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
- ^ Selby, Zach. "Commanders tender 4 players, release S Landon Collins". Commanders.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
- ^ Raanan, Jordan (October 6, 2022). "Giants sign veteran Landon Collins to practice squad". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ Salomone, Dan (October 22, 2022). "Landon Collins activated, Azeez Ojulari to IR among series of roster moves". Giants.com.
- ^ Cltak, Matt (October 29, 2022). "Elerson Smith activated, Ben Bredeson to IR among roster moves". Giants.com.
- ^ Raanan, Jordan (December 22, 2022). "Giants sign LB Landon Collins to roster after role increased". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ Eisen, Michael (January 1, 2023). "Game Notes: Giants lock up 6th seed in NFC". Giants.com.
- ^ "Landon Collins Stats". ESPN. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "He's so Money! Rising Giants star Landon Collins living out his big dreams". nydailynews.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Rising Giants star Landon Collins living out his big dreams". New York Daily News.
- ^ "Landon Collins' brother, former 4-star DL Gerald Willis III transferring to Miami". February 5, 2015.
- ^ "Gerald Willis College Stats - College Football at Sports-Reference.com". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
- ^ "Canes defensive tackle Gerald Willis taking "leave of absence"". Miami Herald.
- ^ "Trump: NFL should 'fire or suspend' players who kneel during anthem". USA Today.
- ^ a b Stapleton, Art. "Giants' Landon Collins: Why I took a knee during the national anthem". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "'Conflicted' Landon Collins cried while kneeling for national anthem". September 29, 2017.
- ^ "Vernon kneels again during national anthem". Newsday.
External links
- Landon Collins on Twitter
- Alabama Crimson Tide bio