 Collins with theDallas Cowboys in 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| Cleveland Browns | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1995-04-08)April 8, 1995 (age 29) Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 310 lb (141 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Center (Kansas City, Missouri) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Nebraska (2013–2015) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2016: 3rd round, 67th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Maliek Collins Sr. (born April 8, 1995) is an American professionalfootballdefensive tackle for theCleveland Browns of theNational Football League. He playedcollege football atNebraska and has previously played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys,Las Vegas Raiders,Houston Texans, andSan Francisco 49ers.
Collins was born on April 8, 1995, inKansas City, Kansas, to Janice Davis and C.W. Collins, a mechanic. He has two older sisters. His father C.W. died of a heart attack when Collins was 6 years old.[1]
Collins attended Center High School inKansas City, Missouri, where he was an outstanding athlete in bothAmerican football andwrestling. As a junior, he had a 48–5 record in wrestling and advanced to the state quarterfinals. As a senior, he compiled a perfect 48–0 record in wrestling and won the state championship. As a seniordefensive tackle he posted 102tackles (43 for loss), 15sacks and 5 forcedfumbles.
He accepted a scholarship from theUniversity of Nebraska to playcollege football.[2]
As a freshman, he played in 12 games as a backupdefensive lineman. The next year, he was named a starter at defensive tackle, leading the team intackles for loss with 14, while finishing second on the team with 4.5 sacks and 13quarterback pressures. He also had 45 tackles (17 solo).
In his junior season, he started 12 games at nose tackle, where he faced more double teams, registering 29 tackles (7 for loss), 2.5 sacks and 6 quarterback pressures.[3]
After his junior season, Collins decided to forgo his senior year and enter the2016 NFL draft.[4] He finished his college career with 8 sacks, 19 quarterback pressures and 23 tackles for loss.
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | ||||||||||||||||
| Season | Tackling | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Class | GP | Tkls | Solo | Asst | Loss | Sack | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 2013 | FR | 6 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | SO | 13 | 45 | 17 | 28 | 13.0 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | JR | 13 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 7.0 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NCAA total | 32 | 86 | 37 | 49 | 21.5 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Coming out of college, Collins was projected by some analysts to be a second or third round selection.[5]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft1+7⁄8 in (1.88 m) | 311 lb (141 kg) | 33+1⁄8 in (0.84 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 5.03 s | 1.76 s | 2.91 s | 4.52 s | 7.53 s | 29.5 in (0.75 m) | 9 ft 1 in (2.77 m) | 25 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[6][7] | ||||||||||||
Collins was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the third round (67th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.[8] On July 13, 2016, the Cowboys signed Collins to a four-year, $3.22 million contract with $887,545 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $881,152. He was the last remaining Cowboys player of the 2016 draft class to be signed.[9] He suffered a broken right foot during the first week of organized team activities, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list and missed most of the preseason.
Collins began his rookie season as the fourth defensive tackle on the depth chart behind the veteransTyrone Crawford,Terrell McClain andCedric Thornton.[10] Although he made his professional regular season debut in the Cowboys’ season-opening loss to theNew York Giants, he did not record a statistic.
The improved play he showed in the second game of the season against theWashington Redskins made the Cowboys decide in the fourth quarter to move Crawford to left defensive end and keep Collins as the full-time one-technique tackle, where he was playing out of position. He finished the game with three combined tackles and multiple quarterback hurries. The following week, Collins earned his first career start at defensive tackle and made two combined tackles in the Cowboys' 31-17 defeat over theChicago Bears.
On November 9, 2016, Collins made his first career sack onCleveland Browns quarterbackCody Kessler. He had in 3 tackles and 2 sacks in the 35-10 victory.[11] He started at the three-technique tackle position against the Bears, 49ers, Bengals and Packers.
During a Week 13 win over theMinnesota Vikings, Collins made two combined tackle and sackedSam Bradford for his third of the season. On December 18, 2016, Collins made one solo tackle, and sackedTampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbackJameis Winston causing a forced fumble, the first of his career, helping the Cowboys win 26–20. He started 14 of 16 games, making 31 tackles, 5 sacks (second on the team), 14 quarterback pressures (third on the team), one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
In the Week 2 against theDenver Broncos, Collins's teammateDeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble off of quarterbackTrevor Siemian. The fumble was recovered by Collins and helped set up the Cowboys on a touchdown-scoring drive in the 42–17 loss.[12]
In the third game against theArizona Cardinals, he had his second career multi-sack game with two, along with 5 tackles and 2 quarterback pressures. In the fifth game, he moved from under tackle to nose tackle, afterDavid Irving returned from his suspension.
Collins started all 16 games, posting 18 tackles (3 for loss), 2.5 sacks (third on the team), 25 quarterback pressures (third on the team) and 2 fumble recoveries.
Although he did not miss a game, he had a surgery to address a stress reaction in his left foot during the offseason, which bothered him from the sixth game of the season on.[13]
According to the Cowboys coaches' breakdown, Collins had 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, 25 quarterback pressures and two fumble recoveries in 2017.
On May 14, 2018, Collins underwent foot surgery to repair afifth metatarsal fracture in his left foot suffered during an offseason workout, and was ruled out until August.[14]
Collins injured his knee in the second game against the Giants and missed three contests. His first start of the season came in the eighth game against theTennessee Titans, making a season-best 5 tackles with one for a loss.
He appeared in 13 games with 9 starts. He totaled 16 tackles, 4 tackles for loss (tied for third on the team), 3 sacks (fifth on the team), 20 quarterback pressures (fourth on the team) and one fumble recovery.
He started all 16 games, making 16 tackles, 4 sacks (tied for third on the team), 30 quarterback pressures (third on the team) and one fumble recovery. In the fifth game against thePhiladelphia Eagles, he had a season-high 5 tackles (2 solo) and added one fumble recovery.
On March 30, 2020, Collins signed a one-year contract with theLas Vegas Raiders, reuniting with defensive line coachRod Marinelli, who was hisdefensive coordinator with the Cowboys.
Collins was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 18,[15] and activated three days later.[16] He played in 10 games before being placed oninjured reserve on December 4, 2020.[17] On December 26, 2020, Collins was activated off of injured reserve.[18] He appeared in 12 games with 11 starts, registering 15 tackles and no sacks.
On March 23, 2021, Collins signed a one-year contract with theHouston Texans.[19] He started 15 games, recording 29 tackles, along with 2.5 sacks (tied for fifth on the team), 9 tackles for loss, one interception, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery.
On March 18, 2022, Collins signed a two-year contract extension with the Texans.[20] He started 15 games, posting 37 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 2 passes defensed. He had two sacks against theMiami Dolphins.
On June 20, 2023, Collins signed a two-year, $23 million contract extension with the Texans.[21] He started 16 games, collecting a career-high 41 tackles, 5 sacks and one pass defensed. He had two sacks games against theCarolina Panthers and theTennessee Titans.
On March 14, 2024, Collins was traded to theSan Francisco 49ers for first of the 49ers two seventh-round picks (#232-Levi Drake Rodriguez).[22] He started all 17 games for San Francisco, recording 2 fumble recoveries, 5 sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and 33 combined tackles. Collins was released by the 49ers on March 9, 2025.[23]
On March 12, 2025, Collins was released by the 49ers.[24]
On March 13, 2025, Collins signed a two-year, $20 million contract with theCleveland Browns.[25][26]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2016 | DAL | 16 | 14 | 23 | 17 | 6 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | DAL | 16 | 16 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 2018 | DAL | 13 | 9 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | DAL | 16 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 4.0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | LV | 12 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | HOU | 15 | 15 | 29 | 18 | 11 | 2.5 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | HOU | 15 | 15 | 37 | 27 | 10 | 3.5 | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | HOU | 16 | 16 | 41 | 19 | 22 | 5.0 | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | SF | 16 | 16 | — | 33 | 0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Career | 120 | 113 | 208 | 128 | 80 | 25.5 | 46 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2016 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | DAL | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | HOU | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 5 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
