Maliek Collins

Maliek Collins

Collins with the Dallas Cowboys in 2017
No. 99 – San Francisco 49ers
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  / round: 3 / pick: 67
Career history
Dallas Cowboys (2016–2019) Las Vegas Raiders (2020) Houston Texans (2021–2023) San Francisco 49ers (2024–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
2× Second-team All-Big Ten (2014, 2015)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024
Total tackles: 208 Sacks: 25.5 Forced fumbles: 1 Fumble recoveries: 7 Pass deflections: 4 Interceptions: 1
Player stats at PFR

Maliek Collins Sr. (born April 8, 1995) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Nebraska and previously played for the Houston Texans.

Early life

Collins was born on April 8, 1995, in Kansas 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 in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was an outstanding athlete in both American football and wrestling. 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 senior defensive tackle he posted 102 tackles (43 for loss), 15 sacks and 5 forced fumbles.

He accepted a scholarship from the University of Nebraska to play college football. ^[2]

College career

As a freshman, he played in 12 games as a backup defensive lineman. The next year, he was named a starter at defensive tackle, leading the team in tackles for loss with 14, while finishing second on the team with 4.5 sacks and 13 quarterback 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 the 2016 NFL draft. ^[4] He finished his college career with 8 sacks, 19 quarterback pressures and 23 tackles for loss.

College statistics

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

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of college, Collins was projected by some analysts to be a second or third round selection. ^[5]

Pre-draft measurables

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 ft 1+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 from NFL Combine [6] [7]

Dallas Cowboys

2016 season

Collins was selected by the Dallas 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 veterans Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain and Cedric Thornton. ^[10] Although he made his professional regular season debut in the Cowboys’ season-opening loss to the New York Giants, he did not record a statistic.

The improved play he showed in the second game of the season against the Washington 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 the Chicago Bears.

On November 9, 2016, Collins made his first career sack on Cleveland Browns quarterback Cody 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 the Minnesota Vikings, Collins made two combined tackle and sacked Sam Bradford for his third of the season. On December 18, 2016, Collins made one solo tackle, and sacked Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis 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.

2017 season

In the Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, Collins's teammate DeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble off of quarterback Trevor 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 the Arizona 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, after David 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.

2018 season

On May 14, 2018, Collins underwent foot surgery to repair a fifth 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 the Tennessee 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.

2019 season

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 the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a season-high 5 tackles (2 solo) and added one fumble recovery.

Las Vegas Raiders

On March 30, 2020, Collins signed a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, reuniting with defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who was his defensive 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 on injured 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.

Houston Texans

On March 23, 2021, Collins signed a one-year contract with the Houston 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 the Miami 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 the Carolina Panthers and the Tennessee Titans.

San Francisco 49ers

On March 14, 2024, Collins was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for first of the 49ers two seventh-round picks (#232-Levi Drake Rodriguez). ^[22]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Regular season

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	1	1	2	2	0	0.0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	1	0	0
Career		120	113	208	128	80	25.5	46	4	1	0	0.0	0	0	1	7	6	0

Postseason

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

References

1. "Collins driven by force larger than himself", Fremont Tribune
2. "Former Center football standout Collins impressing at Nebraska"
3. "Collins driven by force larger than himself", Columbus Telegram
   - "Husker DT Maliek Collins reshapes physique, sets sights on putting up Suh-like stats"
4. "Nebraska DT Maliek Collins: NFL 'seems like best decision'"
   - "Maliek Collins declares for NFL draft; 'Thank you to all Husker fans'"
5. "PFF scouting report: Maliek Collins, DT, Nebraska", Pro Football Focus, April 1, 2016.
6. "Maliek Collins Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. March 4, 2016.
7. "2016 Draft Scout Maliek Collins, Nebraska NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
8. "Cowboys believe third-rounder Maliek Collins fits scheme perfectly". ESPN. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
9. "Cowboys sign third round pick DT Maliek Collins, officially lock up 2016 Draft class". NFL Trade Rumors. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
10. "Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart". Ourlads. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
11. "Maliek Collins Game-by-Game Stats". ESPN. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
12. "Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos – September 17th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved October 14, 2017.
13. "Cowboys guard Zack Martin skipping Pro Bowl, recovering from elbow surgery". ESPN. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
14. "Maliek Collins has foot surgery". NFL. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
15. "Raiders Add 7 Players To COVID-19 List Ahead Of Rematch Vs. Chiefs". CBSLocal.com. November 18, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
16. Gutierrez, Paul (November 21, 2020). "Las Vegas Raiders activate 7 off reserve/COVID-19 list". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
17. "Raiders place DT Maliek Collins on injured reserve". Raiders Wire. USA Today. December 6, 2020.
18. Damien, Levi (December 26, 2020). "Raiders activate DT Maliek Collins from injured reserve to face Dolphins". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
19. "Houston Texans Transactions (3-23-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. March 23, 2021.
20. "Texans bringing back Maliek Collins on two-year deal". Houston Chronicle. March 15, 2022.
21. Alper, Josh (June 20, 2023). "Texans announce Maliek Collins' contract extension". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
22. "49ers Acquire DL in Trade with Texans; Sign Three Free Agents". 49ers.com. March 14, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.

External links

• San Francisco 49ers bio
• Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
• ESPN NFL profile