2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Texas DL Alfred Collins

From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Texas DL Alfred Collins.

#95 ALFRED COLLINS/DT TEXAS – 6-5, 320 POUNDS. (SENIOR)

Measurements

THE GOOD

– Elite length, agility, and frame for NFL size standards
– Able to play anywhere on the DL (0-5 tech)
– Built well in upper and lower halves of his body
– Really knows how to stack blocks and shed
– Hand power to knock back and hold guys at the point of attack with great grip strength
– Very wide base to hold up against double teams
– Shows patience as a gap defender in the run game
– Processes players and plays very quickly to react to where the action is
– Great long-arm move to keep linemen at a distance
– Bullrush is powerful when he gets his hands on you- Ability to significantly improve his pass rush with more development

THE BAD

– Can struggle with high pad level at times off the line
– Played at Texas for 5 years and really only got significant starter experience this season
– Doesn’t have a great first-step explosion out of his stance once he put on more weight
– Pass rush plan doesn’t appear very often, as he typically wins with traits and effort
– At times, has difficulty getting to reach blocks due to slow lateral movement
– Struggles staying balanced in pass rush situations once he’s jolted
– Hip and ankle mobility need to improve
– Better rusher over center and guard than at tackle, where his footwork can get clumsy

BIO

– Born 10/08/2001 (23 years old) out of Bastrop, TX
– 1,854 total snaps (1,036 B Gap, 480 over tackle, 167 A Gap, 167 outside the tackle)
– 224 special teams snaps (190 FG Block, 34 punt return)
– Appeared in 63 games with 27 starts in 5-year career at Texas
– Career: 141 total tackles, 17.5 TFLs, 7 sacks, 19 missed tackles, 67 run stops, 12 PDs, 2 forced fumbles
– 2024-25 season: 55 total tackles, 6 TFLs, 1 sack, 2 missed tackles, 27 run stops, 7 PDs, 1 forced fumble
– 2023 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12
– 2021 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team
– Three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher)
– Four-star HS recruit, according to 247 Sports out of Cedar Creek HS
– Collins amassed 253 tackles, 74 TFLs, and 18 sacks in three seasons
– Mom played basketball for Texas from 1990-94
– Played basketball, threw discus and shot put in high school

TAPE BREAKDOWN

Alfred Collins is a defensive lineman from Texas University, where he played for 5 years and fully started in his final season there. The guy has unique athletic traits, ability, and versatility to be a versatile player at the NFL level. Collins primarily aligned at 3-4 tech positions in their defense for the Longhorns with limited snaps at 5-tech, 1-tech, and 0-tech. He has the physical tools to be a chess piece anywhere along the defensive line when needed.

He has the elite length, frame, and size to line up and play well in any spot. He added about 10-15 lbs. in his senior season to play in the A gap more, which was good and bad. He became an even more stout run defender and probably one of the best in the country, but it did hurt his pass-rushing abilities at times because he just didn’t generate the same speed to power that he did in his previous years playing between 305-310 lbs.

He’s a uniquely loose and quick athlete for his size. Collins explodes from his stance and uses his speed to exchange or shoot gaps. His pass-rush moves display impressive suddenness and power. He has a nice two-armed bull rush, great long-arm, swipe, club, and swim move. His spin move is definitely not his strong suit. He often uses his length to uproot interior linemen to win the leverage battle. He’ll also dip his inside shoulder under guards’ hands to slip punches. He doesn’t often get sacks, but when he does, they’re often a product of continued effort and getting around guys. In the second video, you see him just bullying last year’s first-round left tackle pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Anton Harrison.

Collins is No. 95 for Texas in all of the following clips:

Unfortunately, Collins plays with an inconsistent pad level that allows offensive linemen into his frame. His lack of striking accuracy fails to maximize his arm length and sometimes increases his struggles.

Collins has many pass-rush moves in his arsenal, but he fails to build and execute a consistent pass-rush plan. Many of his moves lack polish and only lead to stalemates with the offensive lineman. He suffers from some stiffness that prevents his bend from reaching elite thresholds. Collins frequently anticipates passing lanes and swats down throws at the line of scrimmage.

He likely won’t provide starter-level production rushing the passer early in his NFL career and might never develop into a consistent threat in this area. Still, there is certainly a lot to work with for a defensive line coach. You can even line him as an edge rusher, and he has enough athletic traits to shorten the corner on tackles.

In the run game, Collins has a very wide base to anchor at the point of attack. He always has eyes on the ball carrier, understands where the gaps and flow of direction are going, and knows when to shed linemen to make his move frequently. He rarely misses tackles and has great wrap-up technique once he gets to runners. Here, he throws the left guard proverbially “out of the club” to fly in for the tackle at the line of scrimmage.

He’s not able to hold a double-team anchor, but he often sheds them to make plays in the backfield. If you’re an offensive lineman, don’t you dare try and jump-set him, or he’ll discard you quickly to make a play. This guy’s hands are lightning-quick, and he’s too long to try to redirect you once you lose momentum.

He has really good upper and lower body power to drive linemen back with his force combined with the significant arm reach. He doesn’t dominate one-on-one blocks as often as preferred, but he can stack and shed as well as any defensive tackle in this class.

Outside of swim moves and swipes, he uses a push-pull to shed blocks against the run. His change of direction and pursuit speed limits his range, but his tackle radius rarely seems out of reach. Watch him sniff out this screen immediately, completely change direction, and fly to the receiver. This kind of athleticism and movement skills are rare for a guy his size.

CONCLUSION

Collins has a lot of physical gifts, good experience, some very defined strengths and areas of improvement, and a lot of tools to work with from a pass rush arsenal that should be appealing to a lot of NFL teams. He could probably stand to shed some unnecessary weight and develop a better pass-rush plan. He would be best utilized as a base defensive end on an odd front, where his pass-rushing ability should improve, with an already above-average run defense understanding and skill set coming into the NFL. He may never be a great pass rusher, but he can make his presence felt enough to be an impactful 3-down player.

Collins has a really unique blend of size, length, traits, and versatility that reminds me a lot of Richard Seymour. It becomes a matter of Collins being able to put it all together with the physical package that he brings to the table on where his floor or ceiling will be. His body type looks like it was built in a 3-4 defensive lab, so I would definitely think that he’ll be strongly looked at and considered for Pittsburgh with their need to replenish their defensive line room. His capability of lining up in multiple positions, the experience he brings, the intelligence, strong run defense ability, and the pass-rush upside are all selling points for him.

Projection: Day 2
Depot Draft Grade: 8.4 – 2nd Round (Quality Starter)
Games Watched: vs Ohio State (2024), vs Georgia (2024), at Alabama (2023), at Iowa State (2023)