This is a pretty good debate going on within the Pats pundit community right now. There’s one camp that believes Collins will slide into more of a designated pass rusher role from the edge while Chandler Jones slides into the interior.
I’m more in the other camp that believes Collins will serve more as a linebacker in sub-packages than a defensive end. My reasoning is that Collins’ best strength is his athleticism and that is best utilized in space.
As we saw against the Colts, he’s talented as a blitzer but I don’t believe he’s a natural pass rusher. This means that he’s better when he’s disguising what he’s going to do and then comes flying in, rather than lining up with his hand in the dirt, trying to beat offensive tackles with a variety of moves.
Ultimately I think Collins will be a swiss army knife, who will be in coverage and sent after the quarterback at specific spots. You want to force a running back to try and block him. That’s a mismatch. But I don’t see Collins winning consistently off the edge when his only straight-up pass rush asset is his speed vs. a tackle.
I expect Collins and Mayo to be the sub-package linebackers, eliminating the need for the big safety who was historically used in the “money” dime linebacker spot. As I see it, there’s a good chance that Collins rarely leaves the field.
The bigger question might be if he surpasses Mayo as the best linebacker on the squad. I think that’s only a matter of time, though Mayo will obviously remain in a big role.