🏈 Teammate says Collins 'has gotten stronger, faster and has more knowledge of the defense'

[BAMANEWSBOT]

In an Alabama secondary with many moving parts, safety Landon Collins is the one constant.

At the start of last season, he was considered a special teams standout, while playing sparingly in the defensive backfield. That changed before the fifth game of the year when HaHa Clinton-Dix's suspension forced him into a starting role. Three games later, Vinnie Sunseri’s season-ending knee injury made Collins an even more vital piece to the Crimson Tide’s defense.

Collins started the final nine games of the 2013 season, and this spring – with Clinton-Dix and Sunseri having declared for the NFL draft -- he is the Tide’s best safety and one of its top returning defensive stars.

“He’s gotten stronger, faster and has more knowledge of the defense,” Tide safety Nick Perry said. “At times last year, he wasn’t really sure of himself. But now he’s fully confident, and I think you’ll see a different Landon Collins this season.”

Collins earned his first chance to start when Clinton-Dix was suspended for two games. That opportunity came at free safety, a spot he had never played. But just as Clinton-Dix was set to take back his starting spot, Sunseri went down. Collins moved into Sunseri’s starting spot at strong safety, which is Collins’ natural position.

Last season as a sophomore, Collins finished second on the team with 70 tackles, including four for loss. He intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown. He also had two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a team-high eight pass deflections.

Now, coming into this spring, Collins said he was a bit “overwhelmed” by the added responsibility that comes with his experience and role with the Tide defense. But he also said his offseason has been “great.”

Among other things, Collins said he worked on his footwork and eye discipline to prepare him for this moment. But with all the responsibility he’ll have on the field, his biggest challenge may have little to do with his play.

While he may have deferred to others in the past, Collins is expected to take on more of a leadership role.

Clinton-Dix and Sunseri made the on-field adjustments for the secondary last season. That duty likely goes to Collins this season.

“Just to be the back end of the secondary -- the leader back there, and make all the right calls, and get all the people in the right positions to make their plays,” Collins said.

The first step of taking control of his new role is becoming completely comfortable with the defensive schemes, which Collins said he is.

Tide coach Nick Saban said Collins has “really done a good job this spring,” working to take that next step to become a more complete player.

“All players have things that they can work on to improve, and Landon’s certainly a guy that is a great competitor and really works hard every day to try to improve and has a really good attitude about it,” Saban said. “I think he’s trying to affect other people, be a leader set a good example, encourage others to do things the way they need to do it.

“With Landon, to me, when he understands what he’s supposed to do, he really plays fast and is effective. I think the more knowledge and experience that he gets, the more consistently he’ll be able to play that way, and that’s certainly our goal for him this spring.”

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Read More Here...

 

[TerryP]

There's more by reading the link...it's a good piece on Landon—well worth the read.

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Film Study: Does Landon Collins have what it takes to be the best safety of the Saban era?

Diverse Skill Set

These days, if you're not fortunate to hold a starting spot in the rotation you have more than likely spent time at either the "Star" or "Money" positions in Bama's sub packages. In Saban's defense these spots go beyond the traditional nickel and dime back role. Due to the multiplicity of the defense, and the vastness of the manufactured pressure game, these roles can be described as a cross between a corner, safety and a linebacker.

A "Cafebacker?!"

With Bama once using a player like Milliner in this role—who looks to be on his way to stardom as an outside corner in the NFL—in addition to someone like Sunseri (a former high school linebacker) you can see the difference in skill sets it takes to play these roles. Collins first cut his teeth in this role before becoming more of a traditional safety.

Playing closer to the line of scrimmage in the Star position allowed him to show off his innate ability to tackle in space. As a former safety myself, I have respect for anyone that has the ability to size up a back or receiver in space and "seal the deal," as one of my former coaches used to preach.

Tackling a ball-carrier in space, as opposed to being afforded the benefit of operating in the muddy waters known as "the box," is tricky because players have what is called a "two way go."

Often times when you tackle in traffic the ball-carrier has just one lane to manage due to the plethora of bodies; Collins excels in both traffic and space.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I agree, his upside is still appreciable. If we are sitting here next year even debating between him and Barron, I'll be satisfied.

RTR,

tim