clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2015 NFL Mock Draft: Pittsburgh Steelers Select SS Landon Collins at No. 22

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

With the No. 22 pick in the DBN 2015 NFL Mock Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select...

Landon Collins, SS, Alabama

The selection and write-up were made by Marquess of Rockingham:

If cornerbacks and safties were teeth, Pittsburgh's defensive backfield would be the meth mouth of the AFC North. The offseason retirements of aging but somewhat effective veterans in Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor only further served to accelerate the decay among an already highly compromised group. The Steelers also face a critical situation at OLB, where the retirement of Jason Worldis will force the team to depend heavily on what remains in body and mind of James Harrison. While Harrison cycled undetectably played effectively last year at the ripe age of 36, adding a top pass rusher would bring some much needed meat to a unit that appears heavy on vegetables. Owamagbe Odighizuwa, the best remaining DE/OLB prospect, could thicken the yinzer gruel on third down, but he appears better suited to play in a 4-3 base and carries a fairly extensive injury dossier.

Nevertheless, with only one DB off the board, many toothsome talents remain available for the egesta and pitch, which selects Alabama strong safety Landon Collins with its twenty-second pick. At 6'0" and 228 lbs., Collins' most conspicuous physical tool is speed (4.53), which, combined with his relish for contact, superior tackling skills, and ability to diagnose, track, and maintain containment on running plays, will make him a force in an increasingly run-heavy AFC North. Whoever drafts Collins may ask him to shed some mass, however, as many observers felt his increased size diminished his quickness slightly in 2014. Although he reads QBs well, proves effective in zone coverage, and uses his strength and athleticism to great effect in denying the ball to or stripping it from potential pass catchers, scouts universally agree that Collins should not be asked to cover TEs and slot receivers one-on-one. Still, the scheme flexibility Ryan Shazier provides could mitigate concerns about Collins' play in the passing game, and it's easy to see Collins thriving in third down situations as a dime LB.

While the top remaining CBs were tempting, the draft is relatively stacked at the position. In any event, precious few CBs can be expected to play effectively over a significant number of snaps at the NFL level as a rookie. In contrast, Collins is the clear best player available at a position of need, one of the few NFL-ready safeties available in the draft, and his strengths and weaknesses mesh well with the roster as it stands. What's more, Collins is by all accounts a model teammate and gym rat, who lives, breathes, and bleeds the game, all of which are very important to the Steeler "brains trust." In short, Collins will add some much needed enamel to a defensive squad that has grown more than a bit long in what remains from among its proverbial teeth.

With the Steelers' defense undergoing big changes this offseason, both in talent and in coaching, going with a young safety seems like a good fit, and they just had him in for a visit a couple of days ago. It would be interesting to see if Pittsburgh toys with the idea of taking a wide receiver, considering the potential holdout for WR Antonio Brown.

The Detroit Lions are up next, led by tmptplayer.

2015 DBN Community Mock Draft Results (so far)

Pick Team Player Position School Username
1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jameis Winston QB Florida State BuenosAires_Dawg
2 Tennessee Titans Marcus Mariota
QB
Oregon
scott tizzle
3 Jacksonville Jaguars Vic Beasley
DE/OLB
Clemson
Legoman0721
4 Oakland Raiders Amari Cooper
WR
Alabama
makeaplay59
5 Washington Redskins Leonard Williams
DE
USC
michael.hamper
6 New York Jets Dante Fowler
OLB
Florida
aszabo1
7 Chicago Bears Kevin White
WR
West Virginia
Barnestorm
8 Atlanta Falcons Melvin Gordon
RB
Wisconsin
OhioCityBrownsBeliever
9 New York Giants Randy Gregory
DE
Nebraska
Bizono
10 St. Louis Rams DeVante Parker
WR
Louisville
Ted Washington's Belly
11 Minnesota Vikings Trae Waynes
CB
Michigan St.
MConley17
12 Cleveland Browns Bud Dupree
OLB
Kentucky
Adam Rice
13 New Orleans Saints Shane Ray
DE/OLB
Missouri
TuckJob
14 Miami Dolphins Arik Armstead
DT
Oregon
Brocolis154033
15 San Francisco 49ers Brandon Scherff
OL
Iowa
Manly and Loving It
16 Houston Texans Brett Hundley
QB
UCLA
troy145
17 San Diego Chargers Malcom Brown
DT
Texas
Crawford_T
18 Kansas City Chiefs Ereck Flowers
OT
Miami
JamesPowell
19 Cleveland Browns Danny Shelton
NT
Washington
Royce Groff
20 Philadelphia Eagles La'el Collins
OT
LSU
Matt Wood
21 Cincinnati Bengals Dorial Green-Beckham
WR
Missouri
styrofoamboots
22 Pittsburgh Steelers Landon Collins
SS
Alabama
Marquess of Rockingham
23 Detroit Lions


tmptplayer
24 Arizona Cardinals


a2342432a
25 Carolina Panthers


PaduaDSP
26 Baltimore Ravens


unoservix
27 Dallas Cowboys


Twilightcall06
28 Denver Broncos


Maverick Hunter X
29 Indianapolis Colts


Mudville
30 Green Bay Packers


syndrome
31 New Orleans Saints


pt_999
32 New England Patriots


stravaille