New York Giants second year safety, Landon Collins, has become one of those players on defense that opposing teams must now account for. And in the process of making a name for himself, Collins has made a legitimate case for being named Defensive Player of the Year. At the very least, he’s put himself in the conversation, especially with his play over the last several weeks.
Safety Landon Collins Making His Case for Defensive Player of the Year
Collins plays for a Giants team that is well known for its Hall of Fame players on the defensive side of the ball. Some of those legendary players include the greatest linebacker of All-Time in Lawrence Taylor, followed by Harry Carson, Carl Banks and Michael Strahan. All of whom have won at least one Super Bowl title.
The New York Giants drafted Landon Collins with the first pick in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of the University of Alabama. The Giants were so impressed with the Alabama standout during Training Camp that they made him their starting safety in his rookie season, and he’s been New York’s best playmaker on defense ever since. In fact, Collins became the Giants first defensive player to win back-to-back Conference Player of the Week prior to their week ten victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
During the Giants trip to London in week seven when they took on the Los Angeles Rams, Collins was recognized with his first Conference Player of the Week when he intercepted Rams quarterback Case Keenum twice, with Collins returning one of them for a pick six.
After the Giants bye in week eight, they hosted their divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a week nine matchup. Collins would finish the game against the Eagles with twelve tackles, as well as an interception on Philadelphia’s opening drive, setting up the first of four touchdown passes thrown by Eli Manning. Collins’ play against the Eagles earned him his second straight Conference Player of the Week.
The Giants head into week 11 with a record of 6-3, along with holding the first Wild Card spot as they prepare to host the Chicago Bears. Collins success on defense is one of the major reasons for the Giants best start since 2012, when they began that season at 6-2 through eight games. At the moment, the second year player out of Alabama leads the New York Giants in tackles (69), sacks (3) and interceptions (4). This makes Collins the only player in the NFL to lead his team in all three categories.
There hasn’t been a Giants player that has led the team in both interceptions and sacks for a full season since sacks became an official statistic back in 1982. The last football player to accomplish this feat was Lawrence Timmons of the Pittsburgh Steelers back in 2012 (six sacks, three interceptions). So far in the 2016 season, other than Collins, Yannick Ngakoue of the Jacksonville Jaguars is the only other player that leads in both categories as well, with four sacks, and is one of three players on the team with one interception.
The Giants thought so highly of the Alabama product that they moved up in the draft to grab him with the 33rd overall pick. By August of last season, Big Blue announced that Collins would be their starting safety. Despite being part of a Giants defensive unit that blew six leads in fourth quarter or overtime in 2015, Collins displayed his ability to level big hits on his opponents, as well as being a player who can have a huge impact on the game.
As of right now, the Giants (6-3) sit two games behind the NFC East leading Dallas Cowboys (8-1). They host the 3-6 Chicago Bears this Sunday at Met Life Stadium, followed by a week 12 matchup against the 0-10 Cleveland Browns. Then they head to Pittsburgh in week 13 where they’ll face Ben Roethlisberger and the 4-5 Steelers. The G-Men should be able to take care of the Bears and Browns, but Pittsburgh will definitely be a tougher test, especially with weapons like Big Ben, Le’Von Bell and Antonio Brown.
If the Giants do manage to win their next three in a row and improve to 9-3 on the season, it’ll put New York in a great spot to seize or lock up a Wild Card spot while simultaneously trying to pickup a game on Dallas. The Giants already beat the Cowboys in week one which was a very close contest with the Giants defense stepping up at the end to secure their victory. New York’s run defense was also able to hold the Cowboys rookie phenom, Ezekiel Elliott, to under 70 yards rushing.
Despite being only two games behind the Cowboys for the division lead, the Giants best chance of getting into the postseason might very well be the Wild Card spot. Dallas’ offensive line is simply too dominant to shut them down offensively. However, every Giants fan knows that if you get Eli Manning into the postseason, he has a habit of going on historic runs. Manning has two Super Bowl titles and is 8-3 in the postseason, with 2,516 yards passing and 17 touchdowns, while completing 61.5% of his passes.
