Alfred Collins was statistically one of the most complete DTs in the 2025 draft, but the 49ers’ second-round pick knows he has a lot of room for growth.
As a prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, Alfred Collins was predominantly regarded for the run-stopping play he produced at Texas, with a desire to improve significantly in slowing down opposing ground games a key reason why the 49ers selected him in the second round.
Collins never had more than two sacks in a season at Texas and registered only one in 2024. However, there are numbers from his final year with the Longhorns that point to him being one of the most complete defensive tackles in the class.
Indeed, Collins was fourth among all defensive tackles in the class in Sports Info Solutions’ total points metric, which takes Expected Points Added and gives value to every player on each play from scrimmage.
Collins was in the top 15 as both a run defender and a pass rusher. He ranked second in total points on run defense and 13th as a pass rusher.
Those numbers are reflective of a run defender who uses long arms and an extremely strong and flexible lower half superbly to consistently dominate the leverage battle and of a player who has more upside than he’s given credit for as a pass rusher.
Collins consistently pushed the pocket at Texas and displayed a decent arsenal of pass-rush moves to go with a high motor. He used the club-swim move effectively and boasts a surprisingly agile spin move with which he found success at Texas.
His relatively strong performance in the total points metric as a pass rusher may also be tied to his proficiency for batting balls down when unable to get home on his rush. Collins registered seven pass breakups in his final college season.
Yet Collins is clear in where he wants to improve in order to become an even more well-rounded player in the pros by taking his pass rush to another level.
“I say just being more, using my tools, powerful,” Collins said when asked about the strides he wants to make as a rusher. “More power before trying to be finesse-y. Time and place for that but, for sure use my power more.”
Collins did not test well in the explosiveness metrics that the 49ers typically value in their pass rushers, posting a fourth percentile broad jump and a 13th percentile vertical jump.
Those results are mirrored by his tape. Collins is not a player who is going to win consistently with get-off and, as he articulated, he has been guilty of exacerbating that issue by leaning too much towards finesse, often focusing on trying to execute a move before he has closed the gap to the offensive lineman.
But the power and shock he has in his hands are obvious when he defends the run, with Collins regularly able to knock defenders backward through that force and his consistency in playing low.
It would be unrealistic to expect Collins to turn into a pro interior pass rusher akin to Dexter Lawrence. However, if they can better harness the raw power he does have at his disposal and complement that with the moves he has in his repertoire, the 49ers could have not just an excellent run defender but also a very useful pass rusher on their hands.