2021 NFL Draft: 5 players the Cleveland Browns could draft at No. 26
By Josh Brown
2. Zaven Collins, Tulsa Hurricanes
Collins is a 6-4 260-pound linebacker out of Tulsa. Most of you that don’t already know are thinking he must be an edge guy at that size. You would be wrong. Collins has the football IQ and athleticism to play all over a defense. He took home the 2020 Bronco Nagurski Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker and the 2020 Chuck Bednarik Award winner as the nation’s top defensive player.
During his time in Tulsa, Collins put up 236 total tackles, 25 for loss, 7.5 sacks, five interceptions, eight passes defended, and three forced fumbles. In 2020 he had four of his interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns. As you can see from his numbers, Collins is as versatile as they come and would be a great chess piece for any NFL defensive coordinator.
Collins build is already NFL ready and should allow him to make an impact for whoever drafts him. He has the vision to make plays in the backfield and ball awareness to be great in zone coverage. He has also shown great timing with his blitzing, making a beeline for the quarterback when asked. He played some safety in high school, and you can clearly see that he is comfortable making plays on the ball. He was not asked to do much in man coverage, so there are some questions about his ability in handling that.
The Browns would be in good shape if they took the young man out of Tulsa. He not only fills a desperate need at linebacker, but he also adds a versatile playmaker to DC Joe Woods’s toolbox. While we all know that analytics tends to dismiss linebackers in the NFL, this type of player is just an explosive playmaker that could push the former scout in Andrew Berry to pull the trigger.