Has anyone seen any video of him in coverage? All I see are clips of him going after the ball carrier, usually a RB....
There's some in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgo4xXFTA84
0:14- lines up in 2 point stance, drops into coverage. Pass is completed, but that's just the right call against that coverage, and a good throw.
0:30- not in coverage, but just a really good play. Seemed like it was worth highlighting; there aren't many guys that can do that.
0:40- mental lapse, and it cost them pretty big. That'll have to be coached out of him.
1:57- Gets pushed off the line pretty easily, but to his credit, he somewhat salvages things by fighting off the block and ultimately making a play. Won't be so easy to do that in the NFL, but the effort's clearly there.
2:30- dropped back into zone coverage. Not much to see here, no opportunity to make a play.
2:53- drops back into coverage again. Again, the ball is not thrown at him. Seems pretty comfortable.
3:06- makes a pretty decent play in pursuit
3:15- gets his hands up and bats down a pass
3:40- after being stood up by his blocker, he pursues downfield and ends up helping out on the tackle. Not a great play by any stretch, but again, stuff like this really seems to defy the idea that he has a questionable motor and takes plays off.
3:53- If he had man coverage, then he did a very poor job. Almost looks like he was expecting some inside help and he was playing the outside, but hard to tell. I'm inclined to bet that he just screwed up.
4:05- QB keep, Collins makes the play in pursuit. WTF was Nebraska thinking with that playcall? It looks like they left Collins unblocked by design; did they really think that he wouldn't catch Martinez from behind? For the sake of their coaching staff's dignity, I hope that was a broken play.
4:27- Drops into coverage again, and appears to be doing a good job. Doesn't really matter, though, since contain breaks down and Martinez scrambles for a nice gain.
4:40- Collins is fooled by double reverse
4:52- Again, pushed off the line too easily for my liking. He'll have to bulk up if he wants to be a credible run defender in the NFL.
5:35- Pushed off the line again
5:49- makes the tackle in pursuit
After watching that, I'd say he definitely needs some work. He was clearly the best athlete in the field, IMO, so that's promising, and he also plays to the whistle. Comfortable in either two point or three point stance, and seemed to be pretty natural rushing the passer and dropping into coverage. Definitely has the athleticism to pursue and make plays from the back side.
That said, when the Nebraska linemen got their hands on him, particularly late in the game, they pretty much manhandled him. I'm sure that fatigue was a contributing factor, but he needs to get stronger and needs to be coached up so he doesn't overpursue and give up contain so often.
Also, it's hard to overstate how bad the rest of that defense was. They truly sucked. It didn't look like he was taking plays off, but I'm not sure that I would have blamed him if he had. No matter how well he did his job, there was always a breakdown somewhere that made it moot.
