Landon Collins Can Only Go Up From Here

The 2015 Giants defense was historically bad. It was a unit ravaged by injury and exploited as a weakness on an otherwise productive team. One of the worst moments for the defensive unit was a dropped interception that would have sealed a victory over the undefeated Patriots in week 10. The drop by Landon Collins, a player the Giants traded up to get in the 2015 draft, signified a greater deficiency for the team, and another season filled with what-ifs.

After a year of growing pains, Landon Collins is now the veteran in a safety group, that combined holds less NFL experience than the 22 year old. He has been ripped in the off-season by analytics groups and football pundits. He was ranked 84th out of 88 qualifying safeties in Pro Football Focus’ season ending rankings, and he was recently listed as a “position to upgrade” for the Giants during this upcoming season. Analytics notwithstanding as well as any validity they hold, Collins started all 16 games and led the team in tackles as a rookie, all while being “lost” during a rookie season where his running mate was often a cast off veteran.

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Coming into the 2016 season, Collins is the unquestioned starter at strong safety, and is now a player looked at to not only makes plays, but be the vocal point of a young, inexperienced secondary. Aside from Dominique Rodgers Cromartie, Collins is the only current Giant with significant experience in Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive schemes.

Nov 15, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants free safety Landon Collins (21) breaks up a pass during the third quarter against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. New England Patriots defeat the New York Giants 27-26. Mandatory Credit: Jim O /

Landon Collins is by no means a surefire All-Pro player. His boyhood idol was Sean Taylor, and amounting to half the player Taylor was would a huge accomplishment for Collins. Thus far, Collins has proven to be exactly what would be expected: a raw, unpolished talent whose best football is clearly ahead of him.

The 2016 Giants are still in dire need of a free safety compliment to Collins’ downhill, smashmouth style of play. What he lacks in deep ball skills and pass coverage, he makes up for with a nose for the football and a tenacity that the Giants defense desperately needs. And that is all that will be asked of the second year pro this upcoming season: a sure tackler and big play threat, whose greatest accomplishment would be in not giving a game away to one of the league’s best teams. He made his mistakes as a rookie and hopefully got them out of the way. This season, if the Giants expect to hold their own on the defensive side of the ball, Landon Collins will need to play an important role in the production of the defensive unit.

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