RENTON — The Seahawks want L.J. Collier to emerge as a Michael Bennett.
But what they really need, this year, is for him to be L.J. Collier. You know, the pass rusher they spent their top pick on in last year’s NFL draft.
As Seattle and the entire league waits for three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney to decide if he is re-signing with the Seahawks or going elsewhere, the team that made Collier a first-round pick in 2019 must have him play like one in 2020.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll’s and general manager John Schneider’s primary concern this offseason has been fixing the pass rush. Seattle’s was statistically second-worst unit in the league last year, 28 sacks in 16 games. It’s why the Seahawks were on the road for the playoffs and lost in them short of the Super Bowl again.
As the team’s top rookie, Collier had zero sacks. That’s an issue.
So was this: Even after he returned from a rare ankle and foot injury he got in the first days of training camp last July, he was a healthy scratch, forgotten and sitting out five games in street clothes on the sideline.
“It was very difficult,” Collier said on an online Zoom call Friday morning from his home in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.
“I didn’t have the type of year that everybody wanted me to have, so it kind of shifts you off to the side. I felt very disrespected. …
“I’m out there to prove that I’m one hell of a football player, and I’m going to show them that this year.”
Even if they eventually get Clowney re-signed, the Seahawks’ revitalization plan includes Collier and fellow defensive end Rasheem Green excelling inside as “three-technique” tackles on passing downs, particularly when Seattle is in nickel with five defensive backs. That plan also includes the two pass rushers the team drafted last month, second-round pick Darrell Taylor and fifth-rounder Alton Robinson, outside as ends.
“What happens in the third-down situations, when we move guys around some, you’ll see Rasheem and L.J. will work inside, along with J. Reed,” Carroll said last month, referring thirdly to recently re-signed tackle Jarran Reed. “We think we have a nice mix in that regard. Those guys are developing pass rushers, and they’re learning their way and both (Green and Collier) have a lot of ability and a lot of upside to them.
“So, we can have some real fresh players coming in, with rotation. We have enough depth right now to move it around. But you have to look at the guys that play the five-technique (outside) for us, the defensive ends, they are also considered inside rushers for us. We’ll have at least four guys to move in and out of there to keep a rotation going.”
Collier is an outside end on early downs then inside as a hybrid, three-technique tackle versus opposing guards and centers in passing situations, the role in which Bennett thrived for the Seahawks. He became a Pro Bowl pass rusher doing that in Seattle from 2013-17.
“I knew coming in last year I was going to play some three technique in the nickel,” Collier said. “Coach (Clint) Hurtt talked about that, because that’s what they drafted me for, to bring that Michael Bennett (role). He did some inside and out.
“I’m excited for it, man. I know I am an athletic guy. I know what I can do inside with my quickness and my strength.
“I’m excited for it. Whatever I can do to get on the field, man.”
That was exactly his problem in his rookie season.
Instant setback
Last July 30, the fifth day of his first NFL training camp, Collier got thrown to the ground while pass rushing during an 11-on-11 scrimmage. He was carted out of practice and the rest of the preseason with what Carroll described as a rare sprain of his foot and ankle. If he wasn’t a first-round pick, he may have gone on injured reserve.
The top rookie lost all the development and learning he was supposed to do throughout the preseason, including four exhibition games. He finally returned in mid-September.
“I came in against the Steelers and pretty much hadn’t practiced anything in a very long time. No pad work. So I was a step behind everybody,” Collier said.
He was inactive the following week, then barely played in week four at Arizona. Coaches left him a healthy scratch in week five. He suited up but did little else week six at Cleveland.
So it went for the Seahawks’ top draft pick, useless in a pass rush that sure could have used him.
After all his time lost to the injury, the Seahawks basically treated his rookie season as an unplanned redshirt year.
“So it was very difficult,” he said. “But I learned a lot in my first year, about myself, about the league. I have great guys around me, great coaches, all I’ve learned from them … (will help me in) what I can bring to the game this year.”
His ‘new’ role
This will be a new role for Collier, inside on passing downs. But not completely foreign.
He said he was a three-technique tackle in 2016 as a sophomore at TCU, when he had more of a part-time role on its defensive line. His last two seasons he was outside as end, as more of a power, post rusher than a speed, edge rusher.
To prepare, he’s home in Texas, restricted away from the closed Seahawks facility in Renton by the coronavirus pandemic, doing boxing workouts. That’s to keep up his cardiovascular fitness.
“I’m really just trying to own my pass-rush game more, get in better shape,” he said.
Minicamps and organized team activities (OTAs) have been canceled. It’s increasingly likely the first time the Seahawks will get to see how well Collier restarts his NFL career won’t be until training camp starts. That’s supposed to be July 29, but the COVID-19 virus will determine whether it begins then.
“Whenever, I’m going to be ready. I know exactly what I need to do. I’ve been there, so I know what to expect,” he said.
