If Collins is able to play the way he did in 2021 without any of the attendant drama, he’ll be a major upgrade on the right side for Joe Burrow, and a Bengals team that’s trying to get back to the Super Bowl in 2022.Īnother example of how sometimes, you have to be patient with players. He starts out by handling Ndamukong Suh at the line, and then heads upfield to block Shaq Barrett on a TE screen to Dalton Schultz. [video width=”960″ height=”540″ mp4=” ″%5D%5B/video%5DĬollins can also get things done on multiple levels, as he shows on this rep against the Buccaneers. 71) gives Jones no shot at getting anywhere near Dak Prescott on this 26-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb. Here, against Cardinals pass-rusher Chandler Jones in Week 17, Collins (No. A few days later, the Bengals, desperately seeking to upgrade an offensive line with needs everywhere, signed Collins to a three-year, $30 million contract.Ĭollins isn’t technique-perfect, but he’s able to envelop edge-rushers off the snap, and he can deflect pressure very well when he gets his hands out and active. Dallas tried to trade Collins this offseason due to salary cap concerns, and released him in March. Last season at right tackle for the Cowboys, he allowed two sacks, four quarterback hits, and 20 quarterback hurries on 601 pass-blocking snaps, and was strong in the run game, as well. Then, Collins missed the 2020 season due to injury, and was suspended five games last September for a violation of the NFL’s policy and program on substances of abuse after he missed several drug tests, and reportedly tried to bribe an NFL drug-test collector. He worked his way up from reserve guard to starting right tackle, taking a few lumps along the way - but he was a rock at right tackle in 2019. The Cowboys signed Collins as an undrafted free agent in 2015 despite Collins’ first-round talent due to off-field concerns that proved meritless, and the insistence of Collins’ representation that he would sign with no team that selected him in the third round or lower.
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(All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated). The NFL’s top 12 interior defensive linemen Here are Touchdown Wire’s 12 best offensive tackles heading into the 2022 NFL season - along with links to our position lists to date, which lead to our list of the 101 best players overall. If you’re a 49ers fan, you can skip right ahead and start gloating. Five of our tackles this year ply their trade on the right side, including our second- and third-best.Īs for the best offensive tackle, outside of Aaron Donald’s place atop our list of interior defensive linemen, no choice was easier than this. As the NFL becomes more of a quick-game league, the front-side protector had best be on point. We have also seen an increasing blurring of the lines in the importance of left tackle and right tackle. We always like to see that, at any position. You’ll see a few players who came into the NFL, looked like open gates early on, and then figured it out. In many cases, the new guys on our list this year are players who needed time, patience, and coaching to reach their full potential. The… well, not “good news,” but the thing this allows, is new names to discover and analyze. We would prefer to see the best tackles in the business dealing with the best pass-rushers on a regular basis, but this is where it is. As is the case with Bakhtiari, the hope is that Stanley will be ready for training camp. Then, Bakhtiari missed all but one game last season due to an awful knee injury he suffered late in the 2020 season, and word is that he might be ready for training camp this season.Īs for Stanley, he missed all but six games in 2020, and all but one game in 2021 with an ankle injury that required multiple surgeries. On last year’s list of the league’s best tackles, David Bakhtiari of the Packers ranked first overall, and Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley ranked third.
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Things have changed a lot in the NFL’s offensive tackle hierarchy of late, and sadly, for all the wrong reasons.