Why La’el Collins to the Buffalo Bills Seems Odd
By Joe Wedra
It sure appears the Buffalo Bills are courting La’el Collins after the former LSU OT suffered an NFL Draft slide for the history books. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed that Rex Ryan had dinner with Collins on Monday night, potentially attempting to solidify Buffalo as the official landing spot for one of the 2015 classes top tackles.
Credit to The Advocate in Louisiana for first reporting the news. Here’s an excerpt from their piece, focusing on Collins’ near future with NFL teams. It appears some visits are being lined up, and he may end up in the league this season after all:
“Collins, now an undrafted free agent, had meetings scheduled with officials from the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins for Monday night and Tuesday morning, a source close to Collins told The Advocate. Collins has received interest from “almost every” NFL team over the past few days and will likely meet with several teams over the next few days, the source said.”
Let’s spotlight on Buffalo for just a second.
In the 2014 NFL Draft, the Bills went out of their way to bolster the tackle position, drafting Cyrus Kouandjio and Seantrel Henderson. Two very viable youngsters who look to be around for awhile.
On the left side, Cordy Glenn is a staple, helping the offense run with a legitimate presence on the blind side. The bookends are there, there’s youth available and most importantly, La’el Collins simply doesn’t fit.
For Buffalo, why not attempt to snatch the LSU standout? Imagine a tackle depth chart that features Glenn, Henderson, Kouandjio and Collins.
That’s unfair.
It’s also the reason you have to question Collins heading to Buffalo. From a career standpoint, how does Rex Ryan and Co. make the most sense? If Todd Gurley went un-drafted and had his pick of NFL teams, would he go out of his way to sign with the Green Bay Packers with Eddie Lacy and James Starks penciled into the opening day roster? It’s a viable comparison, and a telling illustration.
Buffalo can recruit all they want. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many steaks Ryan bought Collins at dinner.
If the 6’5″ tackles wants to make the best career move, he’ll steer clear of the tackle-rich Bills.