Alex Collins

I laid out my ultimate hope for Collins and the Seattle offense a few days ago:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=134191

I didn't get everything I predicted, but I got a lot. Alex really seems to be coming on.

One less carry than Rawls today, but 41 more yards.

7 carries today for AC, for 55 yards, 1 target in the passing game for 4 yards.

He wasn't the featured back for most of the game as I hoped, but I was very happy to see
the coaches trust him down the stretch when it was most critical.

Also very happy to see Reece doing well.

I like the way we look when we have Collins and/or Reece in the game. Not as explosive maybe, but more powerful and consistent, which is all this offense needs from the running game IMO.

More power and consistency from the run game is what we need for a SB run, and for brief stretches of the game the last two weeks, we've had that when Collins was in the game.

I see an important role for AC in the playoffs, and I think he will respond with a statement that will help his positioning in 2017.

Go AC! Go Hawks! Let's win it all!

Another impressive showing. I think he should have got more carries.

I agree.

Not saying he is the second coming of Lynch or anything...but at this point - I've seen enough over the past few games that I want to see him on a more consistent basis...Maybe even featured over Rawls. He hasn't been facing all world defenses the past 2 weeks, but he seems to be running hard and finding some yardage.

With the constant rotation - I would think it is difficult for any RB to get into any kind of groove.

At this point - can the run game get any worse?

HawkFreak":2ov668ck said:

At this point - can the run game get any worse?

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Collins averaged 7.8 yards a carry today.

Everyone else combined averaged 1.7 yards a carry.

I agree the run game can get better from here, just give us more Reece and Collins.

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

MrThortan":1y0cnwt5 said:

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

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co-sign.


Give me the guy that can stay out there, week after week, practice after practice, without getting hurt, and can keep improving, over the guy who can make a wow play every now and then between injuries,

and I hate to say it, but that last statement describes every running back we've had this year, except Collins.

MrThortan":17jq472a said:

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

Click to expand...

I'll be honest a fumble prone RB in the playoffs scares me but he seems to be the life to our running game that Rawls was a year ago.

One disclaimer though is the 49ers have one of the worst run defenses in the league and coming into the game Collins was averaging less than 3 yards a carry.

He needs to be the lead back from here on out. We're not making a run with Rawls getting 14 yards on 8 carries.

I'm not jumping on the Collins band wagon just yet, but I will give credit where credit is due. I haven't been the strongest supporter of him through the season but he has had some really nice runs the last few games. It gives me some hope for what Seattle sees in him

WestcoastSteve":2u3t0322 said:

MrThortan":2u3t0322 said:

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

Click to expand...

I'll be honest a fumble prone RB in the playoffs scares me but he seems to be the life to our running game that Rawls was a year ago.

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2 fumbles in his first 17 carries is reason to worry, I was scared he wouldn't play again this year.

He was playing with the flu in GB, in the coldest game of his career, and on his 5th straight carry, when he last fumbled, I think CPC cut him some slack because of that.

"Fumble prone" is a label he will shake I believe, he never had that label before.

ACFan":2r4yybgj said:

WestcoastSteve":2r4yybgj said:

MrThortan":2r4yybgj said:

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

Click to expand...

I'll be honest a fumble prone RB in the playoffs scares me but he seems to be the life to our running game that Rawls was a year ago.

Click to expand...

2 fumbles in his first 17 carries is reason to worry, I was scared he wouldn't play again this year.

He was playing with the flu in GB, in the coldest game of his career, and on his 5th straight carry, when he last fumbled, I think CPC cut him some slack because of that.

"Fumble prone" is a label he will shake I believe, he never had that label before.

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Are you sure?

I read it's why he slipped to the fifth round

http://nflmocks.com/2015/10/07/heard-ar ... x-collins/

I like him. I don't understand why he didn't get time until I think the second quarter.

I've been the voice in the wilderness on Collins most of the year. But I was wrong for thinking he'd be effective early in the season, it's taken much longer than I thought.

I think CPC was telling us the truth a few weeks back when he said the light had come on for Collins.


So many of the pro-Collins arguments I've made this season can be stated in a crazy stat I just found out.

Combining college and the pros. Collins has DOUBLE the attempts, yardage and TDS of Rawls AND CJ Prosise COMBINED.

Consider that, then consider the number of injuries that kept all them out of games during that time.

Rawls and CJ combined.. i don't know, 6, 8, 12 ? over the past 4 years, ( I can count 4 this season alone.)

Alex Collins, going back 5 years even, ZERO.

That's my case for AC having more upside than any RB we've had this year.

He's averaged 2.9 yards a carry this season; while not terrible, it's not quite the second coming of Curt Warner or Marshawn Lynch. More like...2015 Bryce Brown, who ended up with almost the exact same rushing numbers that Collins ended the year with (72 rushing yards in 25 attempts to Collins' 70 in 24 attempts, though Collins was used more in the passing game than Brown was). 55 of those yards by Collins came against one of the worst run defenses we've seen this decade. I didn't agree with those who wanted to cut him earlier this season but at the same time I would temper expectations of Collins being the "savior" of the running attack this postseason. Right now he's just an average back in a committee full of average backs. Willing to give him a shot at reps, but not ready to sing any praises. He's giving us exactly what a 5th round rookie running back should be expected of at this point in his career.

WestcoastSteve":7n4kfds1 said:

ACFan":7n4kfds1 said:

WestcoastSteve":7n4kfds1 said:

MrThortan":7n4kfds1 said:

Collins appears to have a lot of upside. So many young and rookie backs have been on the team this season. Alex seems to be the most reliable one so far. High hopes for the future.

Click to expand...

I'll be honest a fumble prone RB in the playoffs scares me but he seems to be the life to our running game that Rawls was a year ago.

Click to expand...

2 fumbles in his first 17 carries is reason to worry, I was scared he wouldn't play again this year.

He was playing with the flu in GB, in the coldest game of his career, and on his 5th straight carry, when he last fumbled, I think CPC cut him some slack because of that.

"Fumble prone" is a label he will shake I believe, he never had that label before.

Click to expand...

Are you sure?

I read it's why he slipped to the fifth round

http://nflmocks.com/2015/10/07/heard-ar ... x-collins/

Click to expand...

That was an opinion in the pre-draft hysteria. It wasn't a label he had in college, for those who watched him play. He improved greatly in that area after his freshmen year.

here's an interesting quote from the same article.

Right now Collins is a 3rd round back, but has potential to move up into the 2nd with the right team and a great off-season.

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He actually wanted to return for his SR season, so he could put some school and SEC records out of reach. He was convinced, by a group of credible scouts, that he was no later than 3rd round, (just what this article was saying) Everyone from the coach down encouraged him to declare early.

I joined the board on draft day, to tell you all Seattle got a steal.

FortWorthSeahawk":2u0hsouj said:

He's averaged 2.9 yards a carry this season; while not terrible, it's not quite the second coming of Curt Warner or Marshawn Lynch. More like...2015 Bryce Brown, who ended up with almost the exact same rushing numbers that Collins ended the year with (72 rushing yards in 25 attempts to Collins' 70 in 24 attempts, though Collins was used more in the passing game than Brown was). 55 of those yards by Collins came against one of the worst run defenses we've seen this decade. I didn't agree with those who wanted to cut him earlier this season but at the same time I would temper expectations of Collins being the "savior" of the running attack this postseason. Right now he's just an average back in a committee full of average backs. Willing to give him a shot at reps, but not ready to sing any praises. He's giving us exactly what a 5th round rookie running back should be expected of at this point in his career.

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well, that's even handed enough, so I can't argue.

But I would be curious what Marshawn averaged his first 24 carries in the league, and what Brown's college resume looks like compared to Collins, for fairness sake.

Collins looks absolutely nothing like the previous chunky truffle shuffle he looked like earlier and like he did in college. He's noticeably quickER than he was before and he also looks like he has better balance.

Personally, I've never thought Rawls was the second coming of anything. If you look at what he did last season, he had some of the biggest running lanes I've seen a Hawk back get in years and years. Any idiot could have had success with the huge holes he had. The OL at that time was a far, far cry from what they were earlier in the 2015 season.

All that said, neither Collins or Rawls are special in any way, but Collins looks to have put a claim on some carries, Rawls or not. I'd split carries between the two until Prosise comes back, who is really the only back on the roster right now with a relatively high ceiling. Pending he can ever play more than two games at a time anyway.

vin.couve12":36e1agxt said:

I'd split carries between the two until Prosise comes back, who is really the only back on the roster right now with a relatively high ceiling. Pending he can ever play more than two games at a time anyway.

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I've heard this idea a lot, and while I'm always hopeful for anybody in a Seahawk uniform to stay injury-free, I think it's an idea that has a small chance of reaching fruition.


I don't think it's 40 times and vertical jumps that is the cutoff for RBs to have continued success in the league.

I think the cutoff is durability, and having a body/technique that can hold up to the rigors of the game, that's the real cut-off IMO.

I posted that crazy stat about production versus durabilty above, if you just compare Collins and Prosise, it's even more drastic. Without exact calculation, Collins would have over 5 times the carries, yards and TDs than Prosise has had the last 4 years. In that time, multiple injuries kept CJ out of games, ZERO for Collins.

You talk about "ceilings" but If I'm projecting who has the greater probability of REACHING their ceiling, I'm going with Collins.

History suggests he's a safer bet.

and I don't mean to disregard Prosise, he very well may return to make a big play or two that helps get us to the SB, I do like what he can do in small bursts.

Collins sucks. Some oaf i have never heard of got just as much playing time. Guy had one decent run. Made zero difference in game. Like a bigger, slower Julius Jones.

Also sucks: Rawls

This isn't the story about the little engine that could. You want high end players and while Collins actually looks like a legitimate contributor at RB, he's not high end and nor will he be. If that were the case, he'd have been starting quite some time ago.