Jon Gruden is excited about Maliek Collins, and Raiders fans should be too
Maliek Collins is entering his prime
As coach Gruden stated in the tweet by Bair, Collins is just entering his prime, and will join the Raiders in 2020 alongside former Dallas coach Rod Marinelli. Last season, Brentson Buckner did one heck of a job building up the younger players on the roster, making cuts where necessary, and making the group better as a whole.
With Marinelli in the fold, the hope is that this group can take the next step forward, and Collins is going to be a big part of that. Expected to start alongside Maurice Hurst in Paul Guenther’s 4-3 defense, Collins is a tremendous run-stopper who can also get after the quarterback, and is going to do wonders for Hurst in terms of growth.
At only 25-years old, Collins is just getting started at the NFL level, but does already have 55 starts under his belt. He started all 16 games for the Cowboys last season, serving as an anchor for Marinelli’s defensive line, and had ten quarterback hits, four sacks, and one fumble recovery.
The Raiders have done a nice job stacking talent the past two offseasons thanks to Mayock, and Collins could prove to be one of the crown jewels of this year’s free agent class. He is big, quick, and young, and if he plays the kind of ball he did in Dallas last season, this Raiders defensive line just got a heck of a lot better.