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Landon Collins. (Matt Murschel/Orlando Sentinel)
Landon Collins. (Matt Murschel/Orlando Sentinel)

SS Landon Collins, Alabama
Age: 21
Height: 6-0
Weight: 228

College Career: Was a highly recruited player from Louisiana coming out of high school. Took over the strong safety spot his sophomore season after Vinnie Sunseri suffered a season-ending knee injury and never looked back. Led Alabama with 103 tackles in 2014 and was a unanimous first-team All-American.

Strengths: Very good run-defender. Dependable tackler with good downhill speed. Quick to diagnose run plays, taking good angles to the ball and hitting an extra gear to make the tackle. Experience playing both safety positions.

Weaknesses: Not great in coverage. Doesn’t possess ideal free safety speed and ball skills are average at best. If he gives up a step, he’s beat.

Bears Outlook: Collins is widely considered the best safety in this year’s draft, but he’s probably not the best fit for the Bears because he won’t fill their need for a dependable free safety. That said, he’ll likely be a very good strong safety at the next level and would be a better longterm option than Ryan Mundy or Antrel Rolle. But given that Rolle just signed with the Bears, it’s unlikely Collins will land in Chicago. He’s not worth the seventh overall pick and he’ll surely be gone by the 39th overall pick. Only a trade down would increase the likelihood of Collins becoming a Bear.

More: Hoge’s Entire Bears Big Board

Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.