Textbook Seek and Blow Up The Run Inside Linebacker Technique

Background: Cleveland Browns running back Demetric Felton (25) is brought down by Arizona Cardinals linebacker Zaven Collins (25) during the first half of an NFL football game at FirstEnergy Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]

How many times have the Cardinals given up chunk yard runs on cutbacks? Go back and look at this play and how open the cutback lane would have been —- yet, Zaven Collins takes the romance out of the cutback run and he drops Tony Pollard in his tracks.

No one can make these kind of textbook run stops from the sidelines. During the Cardinals 5 losses, the defense gave up 658 yards rushing (131.1 ypg ave.) and an average of 34.2 minutes in time of possession.

Here are the Cardinals’ 2021 1st Round draft pick, ILB Zaven Collins’ total defensive snaps in those games:

• GB: 3
• CAR: 23
• LAR: 0
• DET: 0
• IND: 0

Vance Joseph said Collins wasn’t playing “because he is a backup and who would he replace?”

• Zaven Collins’ run defense grade on the season: 69.1
• Zaven Collins’ tackling grade on the season: 71.5
• Both grades are the highest on the team at ILB.

Imagine if...