Landon Collins Named Best Up-And-Coming Safety

Landon Collins has grown immensely in his second year in the NFL and has landed on Matt Bowen’s list as the best up-and-coming safety in the league.

New York Giants safety Landon Collins is enjoying a great sophomore season. Collins struggled as a rookie as the Giants placed a ton of responsibility on him. They took a youth movement approach to the position that backfired. Collins was the only player to make it through the offseason and regular season unscathed, leaving him with little help next to him.

When the Giants selected Collins with the 33rd overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft they knew he excelled in defending the run. Collins loves to mix it up at the line of scrimmage, but because of the personnel they had he was stuck in coverage often. It resulted in a rough rookie campaign.

Collins had 112 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception, nine passes defended and seven run stuffs. Those stats look good, but taking a deeper look and you can see Collins struggled mightily. He struggled in centerfield as a playmaker, dropping a number of interceptions throughout the season. Collins was also exposed in pass coverage, as that facet of his game is way behind his impact in the running game.

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Blame cannot be solely placed on him as the Giants didn’t give him much help. Any rookie having the responsibility that Collins did will struggle when the holes in their game aren’t compensated for. It looked like the Giants were playing with fire again when they didn’t add any veterans to the safety position to help Collins again.

But, Collins put in a ton of work in the offseason and has taken control of the defensive backfield. Collins is in the midst of a breakout season and his performance is being recognized around the league.

Over at ESPN, Matt Bowen has done a series on the best players in multiple categories across the NFL. Collins’ teammate Odell Beckham Jr. was picked as the best slant route runner in the NFL. The Giants have a superstar offensively in Beckham Jr. and they are on the cusp of having on defensively in Collins.

Here is some of what Bowen had to say about Collins.

"Collins is playing like the safety we saw back at Alabama. That’s why he came off the board at the top of the second round in 2015. Physical? Check. Always around the ball? Yep. Gets downhill with speed? You got it. Collins has made a big jump this season compared with his rookie tape, and he’s producing impact plays for the Giants’ defense, with four interceptions in his past three games.Collins isn’t going to consistently walk out over a slot receiver in man coverage or take away the post as a deep, middle-of-the-field defender, but when you watch him match underneath routes, tackle or drive on the ball in the Giants’ zone pressure schemes, it’s clear his game has really improved in Year 2. He’s being utilized in a way that maximizes his talent in New York."

Collins has taken a big leap in his second year in the NFL. It is clear that he went to work this offseason to improve his game and the Giants have a better feel of how to deploy him defensively.

He has become a difference maker and playmaker for Steve Spagnuolo at the back end of his defense. He is tied for the league-lead with five interceptions to go along with three sacks, 80 tackles, 10 passes defended and two run stuffs.

Next: New York Giants Midseason Grades By Position

Collins has become a key member to the Giants defense and is a big reason why the unit has turned around in 2016 from a disaster of 2015.

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