NAME: Nico Collins
POSITION: Wide Receiver
SCHOOL: Michigan
HEIGHT: 6’4”
WEIGHT: 215 pounds
- FPC Chiefs 2024 NFL Mock Draft 3.0
- NFL Draft: Will Chiefs Fill Defensive End Spot Early?
- How Has Offseason Shaped Draft Strategy For Chiefs?
- Chiefs Draft: Day Two Wide Receivers To Know, Part II
- Could Kansas City Move Around Draft Board?
CAREER BACKGROUND
Nico Collins grew up in Pinson, Alabama, a smaller town near Birmingham. He attended Clay-Chalkville High School. Quickly, his production started to grow during his final two seasons of high school football. Those last two years saw Collins catch 103 passes for 1,968 yards and 25 touchdowns. A four-star recruit, he was ranked by Scout.com as the number two wide receiver to come out of the state of Alabama. Collins received several high profile offers, like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, Auburn and LSU. But ultimately, he chose to play for Michigan.
Collins had to wait a while to get his first huge opportunity with the Wolverines. As a true freshman in 2017, he only appeared in two games, hauling in three passes for 27 yards. The humble, hard working receiver carved out a starting role as a sophomore in 2018. Starting 11 games and appearing in 13 contests, Collins was used as Michigan’s possession receiver and big play threat. He finished that season with 38 receptions, 632 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. Once again, the receiver continued to improve on the little things in 2019. He was the go to guy in jump ball situations and Michigan saw an improvement in how he set up for passes or explosive plays. The 2019 production was roughly the same as the previous season (37 receptions, 729 receiving yards and seven touchdowns).
With the Big Ten originally cancelling the 2020 campaign, Collins chose to opt out and declared for the 2021 NFL Draft. Eventually the conference decided to play a shortened fall football season. However, he remained focused on his preparation and did not return to Michigan. Later on, Collins took part in the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
SCOUTING REPORT
Positives
Physicality/Size
Obviously, Collins has tremendous size for the wide receiver position (6’4”, 215 pounds). The encouraging thing is, with how he uses it to his advantage. In fact, 50-50 balls are more like 75-25 situations in favor of Collins. The receiver does well to outmuscle opposing defenders for catches. Fighting through contact is another one of his strengths. Honestly, this stood out both at the line of scrimmage against press man coverage, and on deep balls down the field. So many times, he was able to snatch balls out of the air, despite defensive backs being draped all over him. Collins also continues to use his larger size effectively and instinctively, while running with the ball after the catch.
Catch Comfort
Overall, Collins has soft, natural hands. There were a few times where drops occurred during his time at Michigan. However, the reasons why he was dropping balls are minimal, easy issues to work through. Collins does not let the ball travel too far into his chest and pads. Meanwhile, teams will likely appreciate how subtly he uses his hands. In jump ball or contested catch situations, the receiver utilizes a late hands technique. This makes timing the pass and knowing how to play both the man and the ball difficult for opposing defenders in coverage.
Collins shows an eagerness with his strong and powerful hands. At the catch point, he will rip the ball away from defenders if he needs to. There is a reason as to why he had success as a possession type of receiver. Throw it anywhere near his frame, and Collins is bound to come down with it.
- Ep. 197: Fields to Pittsburgh, Still Available Free Agentsby Full Press Coverage on March 18, 2024 at 8:00 pm
Quickness
This is a bit of an underrated part of this player’s game. By no means, will Collins blow you away with his long speed or short area burst. He creates separation with his quickness more often than most would imagine, though. At the same time, Collins displays excellent body control. He does well to keep his feet under him and can find a second gear, or throttle down into soft areas on a dime. This player can also surprise opponents with his quickness out of his stance from the line of scrimmage. If you are attempting to cover him in man coverage, an ample amount of cushion will be more necessary than expected. Collins can also shock opponents with his quicker transitions while coming in and out breaks.
Negatives
Limited Route Tree
Carrying out a more full route tree will be important at the NFL level. Potentially, Collins can be dominant as a vertical threat, or in the intermediate areas. He has mostly been relegated to running deep routes, stop routes near the sideline and comebacks. The little opportunities on short to intermediate routes left about a couple of issues. For one, Collins looked uncomfortable with his footwork. He also became somewhat more hesitant in traffic, compared to how calm he was in those situations down the field. Additionally, the top of his route stems and cuts will need to become more crisp and less rounded when changing directions.
Releases
He has no issues with fighting through contact at the line of scrimmage. His hand fighting and hand technique is superb. Nonetheless, Collins has shown to be less confident in his fakes, counters and footwork when releasing out of his stance. If he could simply rely on speed, then everything would go smoothly. Yet, Collins shortens his strides and the feet become choppy. His quickness is taken away and opponents can read what his plans are fairly easily.
Limited Production
This one is more of a minor issue, compared to the others. Collins is just so raw and will need plenty of development in fine tuning his game overall. Working on the little things and becoming more well rounded is going to take more time, as opposed to other top receivers in this class. We have seen powerful, bigger bodied receivers struggle to carve out a clear role against NFL competition. Sometimes it is the team’s fault. Elsewhere, not relying on the physical and athletic aspect has hurt players themselves. Collins is gifted in those regards. Can he begin to trust that side of his game more often?
Chiefs Fit
Do you want a possession type of receiver to fill the X receiver role? The Kansas City Chiefs could get just that by adding Nico Collins. In that capacity of the offense, he would not have to produce monster numbers right away. With where his game is at currently, Collins could certainly assume a top three pass catching role in the Chiefs offense. Being surrounded by Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce could definitely take away having to be perfect on releases or produce crisper routes. With Patrick Mahomes‘ stupendous ball placement and immense trust in his receiver’s during one on one situations, Collins could slide in perfectly due to his contested catch savvy. If he can continue to find that confidence more often, the potential ceiling is high for the Michigan wideout.
Be on the lookout for our final FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles over the next couple of weeks. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.
– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.